SB Nation NBA Playoffs -- Quarterfinal Round
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Deron Williams scored 33 points to push the short-handed Utah Jazz to a 114-111 victory over Denver, evening the Western Conference quarterfinal series as it heads back to Salt Lake City for Game 3.
(Sports Network) - Reeling from the loss of their starting center, the Utah Jazz hope to bounce back tonight, when they visit the Northwest Division champion Denver Nuggets in Game 2 of their best-of-seven Western Conference quarterfinals series.
Denver took a 1-0 advantage in the set on Saturday when Carmelo Anthony poured in a playoff career-best 42 points and the Nuggets pulled away for a 126-113 win over injury-riddled Utah at the Pepsi Center.
The Jazz lost much more than a game, however. Already without forward Andrei Kirilenko (strained left calf) for this series, Utah lost the services of Mehmet Okur in the second quarter with a left Achilles injury.
An MRI Sunday revealed Okur ruptured the Achilles and will be out for three to six months.
Denver's J.R. Smith scored 18 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter in the Game 1 victory for the Nuggets, who came into the series as the No. 4 seed and the Northwest champs thanks to Utah's home loss to Phoenix on the final night of the regular season. Smith made four three-pointers in the final quarter.
Last year, the Nuggets shed the moniker of consistently losing in the first round. This is Denver's seventh straight year in the postseason, but the Nuggets have gone past the first round just one time in that span. They made the conference finals last year before losing to the eventual world-champion Lakers in six games.
Anthony finished 18-of-25 from the field.
"'Melo was great," said Denver guard Chauncey Billups, who had 15 points and eight assists. "I could just see it early from the stuff he was hitting. He wasn't really hitting the rim. I didn't want to go to him too much because against a team like that you need two, three or four guys in double figures to be able to win."
Nene added 19 points, Arron Afflalo 12 and Ty Lawson 11 for Denver.
Assistant Adrian Dantley continues to handle the head coaching duties for Denver in place of George Karl, who is recovering from throat and neck cancer treatments.
Deron Williams had 26 points and 11 assists for the Jazz, who are trying to avoid their second straight first-round exit in the postseason.
Carlos Boozer started Saturday's game despite a strained right oblique muscle. He finished with 19 points and eight rebounds for Utah. C.J. Miles had 17 points, while Paul Millsap ended with 15 points and 10 rebounds for Utah
"I was proud of the fact that our guys played hard," Jazz head coach Jerry Sloan said. "We made some mistakes defensively. When you give up that many points it's difficult to win. But I was proud that we hung in there knowing we were shorthanded at times."
Sloan will use either Kyrylo Fesenko or Kosta Koufos to replace Okur in the lineup tonight.
Game 3 of the best-of-seven set is slated for Friday night in Salt Lake City.
Deron Williams Scores 33, Jazz Even Series With Nuggets In 114-111 Win
Williams was 7-of-14 from the floor, but a more impressive 16-of-18 from the charity stripe, a tell-tale sign of the young, aggressive Jazz, who made 36- of-47 free throws on the game. Playing without Andrei Kirilenko (calf) and Mehmet Okur (Achilles), Denver turned to C.J. Miles, who answered with 17 points and six assists, Paul Millsap, who added 18 points off the bench, and mainstay Carlos Boozer, who had his customary double-double with 20 points and 15 rebounds.
Carmelo Anthony scored 32 points before fouling out late in the fourth, Nene added 18 points and Chauncey Billups notched a double-double with 17 points and 11 assists. Kenyon Martin added 15 points for the Nuggets, who will look to take the series lead in Game 3 on Friday.
The nip-and-tuck affair continued in the fourth period. Utah stretched out to a three-point edge, 95-92, on Millsap’s slam with 8:44 to play, but the Nuggets responded with five straight capped by two Anthony free throws. Denver held a 102-98 edge before a Millsap free throw and a Miles slam with 3:43 to play. Williams converted on a reverse layup to keep it a one-point game, 106-105, then Kyle Korver found himself open and drained a go-ahead trey with 1:28 on the clock.
Billups was fouled with 53 seconds left and the solid free-throw shooter made just 1-of-2 to keep the Jazz in front. Each team exchanged offensive fouls before Anthony fouled out with 25.4 seconds left on a reach-in steal attempt. Miles stepped to the charity stripe and calmly sank both for a three-point game, 110-107.
Martin cleaned up a wild Billups miss with 7.4 seconds to play to cut the deficit to 112-111 then Korver was fouled. The sharp-shooting swingman connected on both foul shots for a 114-111 game. Billups then raced to the other end, but his three-point running shot hit off the back rim and Boozer cleared the rebound as time expired.
A back-and-forth opening period concluded with a Williams three for breathing room and a Kyrylo Fesenko dunk to hand Utah a 33-30 edge.
Denver took the lead not even three minutes into the second stanza, 38-37, thanks to a pair of Anthony free throws. However, Denver went cold, failing to score after a Billups trey with 3:30 left in the half. The Jazz scored the half’s final 10 points capped by two Williams free throws with 24.5 ticks remaining to hold a 63-51 lead.
Six straight points pushed the margin back into a comfortable territory at 76-62 on a Boozer putback of a missed Millsap three-pointer. Denver frantically responded, rattling off the next 14 points, as Utah went about five minutes without a point. The Nuggets scored the final five points of the stretch from the charity stripe with two Anthony free throws tying the game at 76-76.
Utah regrouped and took an 88-82 lead into the fourth after Korver’s jumper capped the third-quarter scoring with 8.8 seconds to play.
Kirilenko is out for the series, while Okur suffered a ruptured left Achilles in Game 1 and is out for the playoffs (three-to-six months total)…Denver held a 56-44 scoring edge on the interior…The game featured 15 ties and 17 lead changes…J.R. Smith had nine points, but the sharp-shooter managed to make just 1-of-6 from beyond the arc…Korver scored 13 points in the win.
Apr 20 2:58a by Sean Keeley - 0 comments