Nuggets beat Jazz but still trail in series

Utah Jazz lose to Nuggets; Still Lead Series 3-2

// April 29th, 2010 // 2010 Playoffs

A win here would have been really nice for the Jazz. It would be a sign to the rest of the Western Conference that the Jazz are still strong. It would have given the team some needed rest.

After the Nuggets had feuded in the locker room and were all pointing fingers at one another it seemed that an implosion was already underway. Alas, despite all that the Nuggets came out playing like they had something to lose…which they did.

Nene went out late in the 1st quarter with a knee injury and Birdman was hobbling towards the end of the game. The Nuggets were offering the game up to the Jazz if they wanted it. The offer was short lived however.

The Jazz went into the half leading by 2 and then proceeded to give up 36 points in the 3rd quarter and trailed by 5 at the beginning of the 4th. They couldn’t get the offense going and Denver seemed like they couldn’t miss a shot.

All of Denver’s roleplayers finally came out of the woodworks and came through for the Nuggets. Arron Afflalo made all 5 of his shots including 2 from long range. JR Smith went from being invisible on defense and shooting 578 bricks to making 4 of 5 from beyond the arc and 5 of 9 overall. Kenyon Martin had his best game of the series…basically everything that could have gone right for Nuggets, well, did.

Utah Jazz’ roleplayers couldn’t buy a shot. Korver looked particularly bad missing all 6 of his shots. Fesenko turned the ball over 3 times in the first 4 minutes of the game. Ronnie Price forgot that he knew how to play basketball and was seen blowing bubbles to entertain himself while on the court.

It makes sense. The roleplayers always play better at home. Considering how bad the Nuggets have played in Energy Solutions we can rest assured that they won’t drain 8 3-pointers in a row.

Our roleplayers will be playing for a hometown crowd that loves them. Kyle Korver couldn’t possibly miss 100% of his shots in that scenario. Ronnie Price still won’t know how to run the offense but hopefully it won’t matter as much. The crowd will hopefully pressure the refs into baking the Jazz a cake.

Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer played very well. They combined for nearly 60 points shooting over 50% from the field. Williams drained 5 of his 8 3 pointers. Boozer snagged 16 boards. But, just as the Nuggets realized the Melo & Billups can’t win the game alone, neither can DWill and Boozer.

Of any of the Jazz losses, I wasn’t all that upset about this one. Yeah, it would have been great to see a win. I didn’t want to see the Jazz mail this game in knowing they could go back home and win the series there. However, that puts a lot of pressure on Friday night’s Game 6 in Salt Lake City.