Jae Crowder could have been part of an ejection train after Utah Jazz teammate Derrick Favors was ejected alongside Denver Nuggets center Mason Plumlee during a scuffle early in the first quarter, but the three-and-D forward ultimately kept his composure when being tested by Nikola Jokic.
Jokic jumped in Crowder's face following a light nudge from him after being whistled for a travel call, yet even after Jokic yelled in frustration, Crowder was able to keep his cool and laugh it off as Utah ended the first half with 65-58 lead.
“It's very difficult, no doubt,” Crowder said of not reacting, according to Eric Woodyard of The Deseret News. “If we was in the park it would've went down. It would've went down for sure but like I said, you've got to think about your teammates, you've got to think about the situation that's at hand and we're trying to win the game here and I didn't want to make it a me against him but it would've went down back if it was at a park.”
The Jazz seemed to have jelled great together and are slowly peaking at the right time in search of a playoff push, just as they did last season.
Having jumped into the seventh seed in an ultra-competitive Western Conference, the Jazz (27-22) have won seven of their last eight and 10 of their last 13 games to stake a claim at a playoff spot.
Crowder has clearly kept what's at stake in mind, as staying on the floor allowed him to power a rather quiet second unit with 15 points, six rebounds and a steal against the second seed in the West with a 114-108 win.
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