The Utah Jazz beat the Denver Nuggets 114-111 in Game 2 of the NBA Western Conference Quarterfinals tonight at the Pepsi Center in Denver. The series is tied at 1-1. Deron Williams had a monster game with 33 points and 14 assists while Carlos Boozer added 20 and 15 rebounds for the Jazz. Carmelo Anthony had 32 points, Nene had 17 and Chauncey Billups had 16 for the Nuggets.
Everybody seemed to play well for the Jazz. I thought the big shot for the Jazz was Kyle Korver's three-pointer with just over a minute left to put the Jazz up 108-106, a lead they would never relinquish. Korver finished with 13. Paul Millsap also had 18 off the bench.
I was particularly impressed tonight with C.J. Miles. He had 17 points and six assists. I thought he made a lot of clutch plays in the fourth quarter and I think this was a big step in him growing up as a player. Miles drew the sixth foul on Carmelo Anthony with about 30 seconds left. Anthony complained about the call, but he was clearly draped all over Miles during the whole sequence and it was a call that had to be made. Miles was clutch making the big free throws following the foul. Williams and Korver also made both of their free throws in the final minute.
With Mehmet Okur out for the playoffs after getting hurt early in Game 1, I didn't think the Jazz had much of a shot at winning tonight. This team really showed me something tonight and I'm cautiously optimistic heading into Games 3 and 4 this weekend in Salt Lake City.
One more thought on the game: With D-Will at the line with about 6 seconds left the Denver crowd started a chant of "Utah sucks." If they really sucked so bad, then why were they ahead? Just sayin. It was really cool that D-Will knocked down both shots to provide the final margin and the Denver fans had to suck on that.
Game 3 is on Friday at 8:30 p.m. MT on ESPN2, espn3.com and FSN-Utah. Game 4 is Sunday at 7:30 p.m. MT on TNT and FSN-Utah.
Here are the rest of the NBA scores the last two days:
Sunday:
Game 1 -- (1) Los Angeles Lakers 87, (8) Oklahoma City Thunder 79 (Lakers lead 1-0)
Game 1 -- (2) Orlando Magic 98, (7) Charlotte Bobcats 89 (Magic lead 1-0)
Game 1 -- (2) Dallas Mavericks 100, (7) San Antonio Spurs 94 (Mavericks lead 1-0)
Game 1 -- (6) Portland Trail Blazers 105, (3) Phoenix Suns 100 (Blazers lead 1-0)
Monday:
Game 2 -- (1) Cleveland Cavaliers 112, (8) Chicago Bulls 102 (Cavaliers lead 2-0)
Here's the playoff schedule for Tuesday:
Game 2 -- (6) Milwaukee Bucks at (3) Atlanta Hawks, 5 p.m. MT (NBA TV, Hawks lead 1-0)
Game 2 -- (5) Miami Heat at (4) Boston Celtics, 6 p.m. MT (TNT, Celtics lead 1-0)
Game 2 -- (6) Portland Trail Blazers at (3) Phoenix Suns, 8 p.m. MT (NBA TV, Blazers lead 1-0)
Game 2 -- (8) Oklahoma City Thunder at (1) Los Angeles Lakers, 8:30 p.m. MT (TNT, Lakers lead 1-0)
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The jazz are once again showing a glimpse into how great they can be.
ReplyDeleteThe Nuggets showed some of the same kind of stupidity that cost them last year's Western Conference Finals (remember them giving up key turnovers to the Lakers late in 2 consecutive games off identical bad inbounds passes?) Carmelo Anthony picking up his 6th foul Monday night was just plain dumb. The Nuggets would have had a much better chance their last couple of possessions had one of the top offensive players in the league not been sitting on the bench. A big break for the Jazz.
ReplyDeleteYeah the Nuggets are not known for using their brains when playing out there, with the exception of Mr. Big Shot, Chauncey Billups. Not only was Anthony's play at the end of Game 2 stupid, but he had the audacity to argue the call when he was clearly all over Miles. I think the Nuggets also aren't used to Adrian Dantley being in charge as the interim coach while George Karl is out getting cancer treatment.
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