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Like Jay Leno, the Jazz just wouldn't go away.
Down by double digits in Sunday night's third and fourth quarters, pesky Utah clawed back each time, even cutting Denver's lead to four with a minute left — the time when nicknames are made.
"At that point in time in the game, if Chauncey Billups is open and I give it to him, I have faith in him," Carmelo Anthony said.
In Denver's 119-112 win, Mr. Big Shot hit the biggest — a "dagger" 3-pointer, as Nuggets coach George Karl called it, a play that finally swatted away the Jazz (23-18).
"We had a lot of big wins this season, and this is probably one of the biggest wins right here," said Anthony, whose Nuggets have beaten the likes of the Lakers,
Cavaliers, Spurs, Trail Blazers and Suns.
So, why was this one of the biggest? Well, Denver (26-14) has now won its first three games against Utah this season, neatly tying up the tiebreaker — which could come into play since the Jazz began the night 2 1/2 games behind the Nuggets in the airtight Northwest Division. Entering Sunday, Utah had won four straight games, including the previous evening against Milwaukee, but Utah entered the night just 7-11 away from the friendly confines of Energy Solutions Arena. Denver, of course, is a beast at home, 18-3 this season.
"As far as playing our best basketball — we're just starting to play our best basketball," said Anthony, who scored a game-high 37 points.
Similarly to knocking down a giant by punching him in the knees, Denver broke down Utah's defense by attacking the feet. The Nuggets' perimeter players seldom let the Jazz defenders get set, and the result was 49 Denver free throws, tying the most by a team this NBA season (set by Denver in the second game of the season).
The Nuggets made 41 of them (Billups alone was 17-for-19), also an NBA season high. This was one reason Karl wasn't concerned by the Nuggets' low assist total (16),
because no assist is awarded if a player is fouled while shooting.
"Otherwise, we might have had 30," Karl said.
From the other locker room, Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said: "You give up 49 free throws on the road — are you kidding me? You have no chance to win."
Anthony went into the locker room with a pedestrian eight points, but in the third quarter, he rediscovered his aggressiveness — his swag, as he likes to say — and he poured in 12 points during those 12 minutes and 17 more in the fourth quarter and did so by attacking, attacking and attacking.
"He was powering the ball to the rim," Karl said.
For the first time since Dec. 16, every Nuggets player was healthy, an uplifting turn of events for Karl, who was wedging Anthony Carter and Joey Graham into big-minute roles. (Not that Karl is afraid to play those guys, but consider that Denver has lost just four times when everyone was healthy.)
Nuggets guard J.R. Smith had another "J.R. Clank" night, going 4-for-12 from the field, but his passing, for much of the night, looked like he was a Jazz point guard or something. Smith finished with a team-high five assists, threading numerous needles via bounce passes, many to Nene. Smith also tossed a brilliant floater in transition to Nene, a pass that whizzed over Jazz fingertips into Nene's fingers for a layup and an ensuing free throw.
Benjamin Hochman: 303-954-1254 orbhochman@denverpost.com
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