subject: NBA- Denver Climb to Second Place of the West Conference after Beating Utah [print this page] The Denver Nuggets used their all powerful offense to beat the Utah Jazz 119-112, working smoothly in the hands of an inspired Carmelo Anthony, who overcame his problem with personal fouls to score 29 of his 37 points in the second half. The game was held at the Pepsi Center in Denver this past Sunday night. The win is the third straight for the Nuggets, tying them with the Dallas Mavericks for second place in the Western Conference. The Nuggets hardly suffered against one of their major rivals in the Northwest Division; the game marks the third time theyve defeated the Jazz this season. The first few minutes of the first quarter were filled with back and forth baskets, with the score tying on three occasions. However, with the contribution of Chauncey Billups and Nene, the Nuggets gained a 7-point lead, 22-15, with 4:01 left to play. But then Utah reacted with some great shots by Wesley Matthews to tie the game again, ending the first quarter 28-28. Entering the second quarter, Denver started really strong, having a 13-0 run in the first four minutes to put the score 41-28. But Utah responded with 8 points in a row, cutting the score to just 5 points, 41-36. However, Denver again scored, making two 3-pointers and taking a lead of 13 points. The Jazz, however, managed the last 5 points of the quarter, finishing with only a 7-point disadvantage, 60-53. In the third quarter, Denver again entered determined to win the game, and in the first few minutes, the team had a 10-2 run that put the score 70-55. But despite the great performance by Carmelo, the Utah Jazz managed to score the last 8 points of the quarter, which ended with just a 4 points difference, 85-81. The last quarter had a similar tempo; Anthony started scoring the first points for the Nuggets and extended their lead to seven points. Then the basket exchange began again, although the Nuggets were always up in the score. Utah cut the difference to just 4 points with 1:13 to play, but another 5 points from Billups and one important shot from Carmelo put the Nuggets up by a comfortable 9 points. In the end, despite a shot by Kyle Korver, Denver took the victory at home, 119-112. At the end of the game, Utah coach Jerry Sloan said the key to the Nuggets was the Anthony-Billups duo and, importantly, the teams free throw line shooting. You give up 49 free throws on the road. Are you kidding me? You've got no chance to win, stated Coach Jerry Sloan. The win was, according to Carmelo, an important one for the Nuggets. "We had a lot of big wins this season, and this is probably one of the biggest wins right here. As far as playing our best basketball we're just starting to play our best basketball," said Anthony, who scored 37 points. The best scorers for the Denver Nuggets were Carmelo Anthony with 37 points and 8 rebounds; Chauncey Billups with 29 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists; Nene with 18 points and 7 rebounds; Jr. Smith with 11 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists; and finally Ty Lawson with 11 points. For the Utah Jazz the best scorers were Deron Williams with 23 points, 13 assists and 3 rebounds; Kyle Korver with 19 points and 3 rebounds; Carlos Boozer with 18 points, 13 rebounds and 5 assists; and ultimately Paul Millsap with 17 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists. The Nuggets next game will be against the Golden State Warriors on January 20th while the Utah Jazz will face the San Antonio Spurs on the same day.
NBA- Denver Climb to Second Place of the West Conference after Beating Utah
