The Utah Jazz beat the Denver Nuggets 105-93 tonight and now lead the best of seven series two games to one. Paul Millsap was the man tonight, pouring in 22 points (18 in the first half, making his first nine shots) and grabbing 19 rebounds. Deron Williams had 24 points and 10 assists. Chauncey Billups and Carmelo Anthony each had 25 for Denver.
The Jazz trailed early after getting off to a slow start but managed to take 52-48 halftime lead before starting to blow the game open in the third quarter. In one of the early timeouts, Nuggets interim head coach Adrian Dantley told his team he was glad they were keeping their composure. But it appears they were only able to do this so long as they had the lead.
When the Jazz took the lead and started to pull away, the frustration of the Nuggets players mounted. I think the crowd got to them. I enjoyed seeing Chris "Birdman" Andersen get a technical foul as I've never particularly cared for him. It was apparent that the Nuggets let their emotions get away from them and the Jazz took advantage of that. We'll see if the Nuggets are able to better control their emotions and stay focused in Game 4 on Sunday night at 7:30 p.m. MT (TNT, FSN-Utah). Another moment I enjoyed was Deron Williams laying it in during the fourth quarter to push the lead to about 20 and then smiling and trotting (perhaps strutting a little?) back to the bench. I like to see that sort of confidence from D-Will.
I also liked that the home crowd at the ESA was ready to go and loud throughout. I thought it was cool and funny that almost immediately after the game started the fans started "Denver sucks" chants that recurred throughout the game. This in response to the "Utah sucks" chants (some of which were made right before the Nuggets lost Game 2) by Denver fans at the Pepsi Center. I liked that when our fans chanted, it was more applicable because we actually won this game. I thought the rowdiness of the crowd contributed to the Nuggets losing their cool.
Earlier on Friday, the Celtics took a 3-0 series lead by beating the Heat in Miami by a score of 100-98 on Paul Pierce's buzzer-beating jumper. I like Pierce and think he is a clutch player and tonight was just further proof. His game-winner essentially assures that the series is over and we can begin preparing to see a Celtics-Cavaliers second round series. I thought the Heat should've fouled with 4 or 5 seconds to go to make the Celtics reset as Pierce just held the ball from about the 7 second mark on down until he fired right before the buzzer. Had the Heat fouled it would have been more difficult for Boston to get that same shot. It probably was worth at least a try.
In the other game Friday, the Spurs beat the Mavericks 94-90 to take a 2-1 series lead. Here's the NBA schedule for Saturday:
Game 3 -- Orlando at Charlotte, noon MT (TNT, Magic lead 2-0)
Game 4 -- Phoenix at Portland, 2:30 MT (TNT, Suns lead 2-1)
Game 3 -- Atlanta at Milwaukee, 5 p.m. MT (ESPN, espn3.com, Hawks lead 2-0)
Game 4 -- LA Lakers at Oklahoma City, 7:30 p.m. MT (ESPN, espn3.com, Lakers lead 2-1)
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I was extremely impressed with Millsap's play last night as well; I think that he and D-Will carried the team to the blowout victory. Millsap is beginning to show his knack for getting into his opponents' heads. I like that he isn't intimidated by anyone. Playing against a hotheaded team like the Nuggets, mental toughness can play a large part in the outcome of a game, and it did last night. I thought that Birdman was going to blow a blood-vessel in his pasty forehead when Millsap kept raping him offensively. It seemed no matter how high Birdman soared for one of his trademark blocks, Millsap would float it just high enough to make Birdman whiff air.
ReplyDeleteOn another note, I thought it was a little funny and odd when they showed the "NBA Cares" profile for the Nuggets featuring Birdman and J.R. Smith at a kids center in Denver. Don't get me wrong, I think it's great that they're trying to help the community by giving back, but if I was a parent I would have second thoughts sending my children to spend a day with those two.
Yeah Millsap is as mentally tough as they come. He doesn't seem to let anybody get in his head. I too enjoyed seeing Millsap getting those floaters over the Birdman.
ReplyDeleteAnd yeah it's true that Andersen and Smith aren't the two guys you would think of being featured in an NBA Cares segment. But I guess it's cool that they're trying to help out in the community even if they look like shady guys.