Jazz-Nuggets Preview

By NOEY KUPCHAN
Posted Jan 05 2013 2:04AM

Coming off a rare home loss, Denver Nuggets coach George Karl says he expects to see his team fired up Saturday night.

The Utah Jazz can't be happy to hear that.

The Nuggets try to avoid back-to-back defeats at the Pepsi Center for the first time in almost a year as they host the Jazz, losers of seven of nine in Denver.

While the Nuggets (18-16) have gone 8-14 in opposing arenas, they've thrived on their own court. Denver has averaged 104.9 points in winning 10 of 12 at home, where it had strung together eight consecutive victories before coming up short in a 101-97 loss to Minnesota on Thursday.

"Just move on," Andre Miller, who with 11 points and 10 assists became the eighth player to score 15,000 while also dishing out 7,500 career assists, told the team's official website.

"It's a long season. Obviously it's a game we wanted to win and needed to win and we didn't take advantage of it. We just need to move on from it."

After sitting out Tuesday's 92-78 win over the Los Angeles Clippers due to a strained left Achilles, Ty Lawson had 16 points off the bench Thursday. Denver committed a season low-tying eight turnovers but uncharacteristically lost the rebounding battle 52-39. The Nuggets rank near the top of the league with 46.1 boards per game.

"I thought the guys showed a lot of pride," Karl said Friday after practice. "They understood you don't want those things to happen, but no team plays 82 good games. After playing well, it makes the spike of the high and then the low (more pronounced). There's still a residual attitude. Everybody's (ticked) off, but I think we'll be ready for (Saturday)."

The Nuggets haven't been handed consecutive home losses since a five-game slide Jan. 29-Feb. 9.

Denver and Utah (17-17) have split two matchups this season, with each team winning at home. The Nuggets cruised to a 104-84 victory Nov. 9 before falling 105-103 later that month. The Jazz have given up an average of 110.8 points during their 2-7 skid in Denver.

Utah, though, has recently held its own defensively and is coming off back-to-back victories for the first time since a season-best four-game run Dec. 5-12.

The Jazz beat Minnesota 106-84 on Wednesday, then won 87-80 at Phoenix two nights later. Al Jefferson had 21 points and eight rebounds while Paul Millsap posted 19 and 10 for Utah, which outscored the Suns 60-28 in the lane.

"That's how we've got to play," Millsap said. "We come out and put it all on the floor and good things are going to happen."

Gaining an edge down low Saturday could prove difficult against a Denver team averaging an NBA-best 55.4 points in the paint. The Nuggets outscored the Jazz 112-78 in that department during those two November meetings.

Millsap, averaging 14.6 points and 7.6 rebounds, has been limited to 8.0 and 5.0 versus Denver this season.

Despite Friday's result, the Jazz are 3-9 on the road against fellow Western Conference foes. They're giving up 101.1 points per game as the visiting team - significantly higher than their 95.1 mark at home.

Denver has won 35 of 37 home games when scoring at least 100 points, including 20 in a row.

Utah continues to play without injured point guard Mo Williams (right thumb) and could be missing center Enes Kanter for a second straight night due to a sprained right ankle.

Nuggets get 26 points from Gallinari in win

By DENNIS GEORGATOS
Posted Jan 06 2013 12:59AM

DENVER (AP) Kenneth Faried shook off a stomach bug to help the Denver Nuggets shake off a rare home loss.

After missing the team's morning shootaround because of the illness, Faried scored 15 points and had 10 rebounds as the Nuggets pulled away in the fourth quarter to beat the Utah Jazz 110-91 on Saturday night.

"I got some medication to help my stomach and also help the dehydration. It paid off a lot," Faried said. "I was able to come out and play, but I still felt kind of queasy. They said it was up to me at game time, but I'm not going to miss no games."

Danilo Gallinari scored 26 points and Andre Iguodala added 18 points for the Nuggets, who had intense, focused practices in the aftermath of their eight-game home winning streak being snapped by Minnesota on Thursday.

"It hurt because we knew we could play a lot better and we feel we had a game stolen from us," Iguodala said. "Focus was really good at shootaround and I think it carried over to the game."

The Nuggets extended their recent success against Utah at home, winning for the eighth time in the past 10 meetings between the teams at the Pepsi Center.

"It was a bounce-back game played the right way, with passion and intensity," Nuggets coach George Karl said. "I thought we got everything we wanted to do. We were executing our offense very well and they didn't get anybody hot. Defensively, we were sound the whole game, it broke (open), and fortunately we had an easy one."

Paul Millsap had 15 points to lead the Jazz, who were without center Enes Kanter (ankle) and guard Mo Williams (right thumb surgery).

Leading by four at the break, the Nuggets stretched their advantage to 60-47 by outscoring the Jazz 11-2 to start the third quarter, culminating the run with a 3-pointer by Ty Lawson, who finished with 14 points, and a driving dunk by Iguodala.

The Jazz responded with a 12-0 run of their own, getting successive 3-pointers at one point from Randy Foye and Marvin Williams to cut the deficit to 60-56.

But Denver gained ground again, taking an 83-72 lead into the fourth quarter after Andre Miller drained a 3-pointer from the corner in the final moments of the third. Miller's bucket came after an apparent dunk by Utah's Gordon Hayward that would have pulled the Jazz within six points was waved off by officials ruling offensive goal-tending because Hayward hung on the rim.

Hayward said he held onto the rim because he thought he might be undercut by the looming Faried, who had moved in to try for a block.

"I thought there was going to be some contact and I think there was a little contact and that's why I hung onto the rim," Hayward said. "I didn't want to get undercut or anything, but for whatever reason, I think (the officials) thought that me hanging on to the rim caused the ball to go in, and I guess you've just got to live with that. You've got to move on to the next play."

Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin said the call was critical because it took the steam of a Jazz push to get within striking distance of the Nuggets.

"It was the turning point in the game," Corbin said. "I thought he got hit, so he had a reason to grab on to the rim, to brace himself so he wouldn't flip. But they didn't see it that way."

Following that sequence, the Nuggets put the game away with a 15-3 burst starting the fourth quarter, going in front 98-75 when Iguodala followed his three-point play with a fast-break layup. Utah's only score during that stretch came on a 3-pointer by Hayward.

"You've got to give them credit," Hayward said. "They knocked down some shots. I think we gave them way too many easy looks in the paint. We let them get a rhythm going at the free throw line as well. We've just got to be better."

NOTES: Utah's Mo Williams is expected to miss six weeks after undergoing surgery in New York on Friday to repair his injured thumb. Kanter missed a second consecutive game because of a sprained right ankle. ... Faried finished with his 15th double double of the season for the Nuggets. ... The Nuggets have won 36 of 38 games when scoring at least 100 points, including the last 21 in a row. ... Utah split a road back-to-back after winning at Phoenix on Friday. ... Denver's Kosta Koufos, a former first-round pick of the Jazz, had a game-high 13 rebounds and the Nuggets outrebounded Utah 48-41 overall.

Notebook: Nuggets 110, Jazz 91

Michael Kelly, For NBA.com
Posted Sun Jan 06, 2013 1:15 AM - Updated Sun Jan 06, 2013 1:15 AM

THE FACTS: Danilo Gallinari scored 26 points, Kenneth Faried shook off the stomach flu to have 15 points and 10 rebounds and the Denver Nuggets bounced back from a disappointing home loss to Minnesota with a 110-91 rout of Utah on Saturday. Andre Iguodala had 18 points and six rebounds and Ty Lawson added 14 points in his return to the starting lineup for Denver (19-16).

Paul Millsap led the Jazz (17-18) with 15 points and Gordon Hayward scored 14 off the bench.

The Nuggets led by 11 heading into the fourth and put it away with a 15-3 run to start the final quarter. Iguodala scored seven points in just over a minute to push the lead to 98-75 with 7:26 left and Denver was never threatened after that.

QUOTABLE: "I got some medication to help my stomach and also help the dehydration. It paid off a lot. I was able to come out and play but I still felt kind of queasy. They said it was up to me at game time but I'm not going to miss no games. It was real tough for me yesterday."

-- Kenneth Faried, on his illness that hit him Friday

THE STAT: Gallinari had one of his most efficient games. He was 7-for-11 from the field and 11-for-12 from the foul line. Only three Denver players had double-digit shots and no one had more than 12.

TURNING POINT: Denver used an 11-2 run at the start of the third quarter to take a 60-47 lead, but Utah scored eight straight to get within five points. The Nuggets, unlike Thursday's game against Minnesota, never lost control. Gallinari scored seven points, Faried had a dunk and a layup and they quickly went up by 14.

QUOTABLE II: "It was a bounce-back game played the right way, played with passion and intensity. I thought we got everything we wanted to do. We were executing our offense very well and they didn't get anybody hot."

-- Nuggets coach George Karl

HOT: Iguodala has consistently put up solid numbers. Entering Saturday's game he was averaging 15 points, 7.2 rebounds and six assists in his last five games. He had another solid all-around performance again in this one.

NOT: After lighting up the Nuggets for 28 points in a win six weeks ago, Al Jefferson scored just 12 Saturday night. In his two games in Denver he is averaging eight points and is 5-for-22 from the field.

GOOD MOVE: Iguodala became a one-man force early in the fourth quarter. He had a driving dunk, grabbed a rebound and then used a ball fake to clear out the lane for a finger roll that gave Denver the 23-point lead with 7:26 left.

QUOTABLE III: "Just kind of got confident, got in that loosey-goosey mode where everything was working. I guess it just cleared out. Sometimes it works like that."

-- Andre Iguodala on the ball fake

BAD MOVE: With 18 seconds left in the third quarter, Hayward had a fast-break dunk waived off because he hung on the rim as the ball circled the hoop. It would have cut Denver's lead to six. Andre Miller then drained a 3-pointer with 1.4 seconds left to make it 83-72 heading into the fourth.

QUOTABLE IV: "I think there was a little contact and that's why I hung onto the rim. I didn't want to get undercut or anything, but for whatever reason he thought that me hanging onto the rim caused the ball to go in. I guess you've just got to live with that."

-- Gordon Hayward on his offensive goal-tending

NOTABLE: Nuggets guard Julyan Stone played for the first time this season. He was out while recovering from offseason hip surgery. ... The Nuggets (22) and Jazz (21) are 1-2 in number of road games played to date. ... Millsap had seven rebounds, four steals and three blocked shots to go with his 15 points. ... Denver has won 21 straight home games when scoring 100 or more points.

UP NEXT: For the Jazz, Sunday vs. Dallas, Tuesday @ Charlotte, Friday @ Atlanta. For the Nuggets, Sunday @ L.A. Lakers, Wednesday vs. Orlando, Friday vs. Cleveland.

• Jazz: Bell, Murphy
• Nuggets: Chandler, Miller

• Jazz: --
• Nuggets: --

• Lead Changes: 5
• Times Tied: 6

• Arena: Pepsi Center, Denver, CO
• Officials: #49 Tom Washington, #47 Bennie Adams, #77 Karl Lane
• Attendance: 19155
• Duration: 2:14