The Utah Jazz had the NBA scared more recently than most remember.
John Stockton and Karl Malone had nothing to do with Utah’s 6-1 start last season. Along with obliterating the Nuggets twice, the Jazz rolled the then-defending champion Detroit Pistons by 15.
Then, as quickly as it started, the Jazz faded. All the way to the bottom of the Western Conference, unable to overcome injuries to Andrei Kirilenko and Carlos Boozer.
But when Utah faces Denver tonight at the Pepsi Center for the first of four meetings over the season’s final 42 games, it returns with some of that lost swagger – which should set up an interesting race for the Northwest Division title.
“I have a good feeling it’s probably going to be a battle between us and them and Minnesota for the division,” Nuggets coach George Karl predicted Thursday.
Denver finds itself atop the Northwest, a half-game ahead of Utah. Then again, the Nuggets’ winning percentage of .525 would be good enough only for fourth place in the NBA’s Central, Southwest or Pacific divisions.
“It’s very wide open,” Nuggets guard Earl Boykins said. “It’s a division where it seems like if you win four or five games in a row, you go from last to first place.”
These two old regional rivals have not made the playoffs in the same year since 1995, nine years before the league realigned to six divisions. A healthy return of a key frontline player on each team should say plenty about whether both teams make it this spring.
The Nuggets continue to await the return of center Marcus Camby.
Camby has missed the past 11 games because of a broken pinkie finger. But at least Camby has played this season and should be back within a couple of weeks.
The Jazz continues to wait on forward Boozer, who has yet to play this season because of a strained left hamstring.
Without Boozer’s help, Utah has still climbed to 20-19 on the strength of the springy Kirilenko and Okur, who have combined to contribute 33.2 points and 17.8 rebounds per game. Kirilenko turned in the Jazz’s first triple-double since Malone had one in the 1999 playoffs in a Tuesday win over Toronto.
“He’s a Scottie Pippen-like player, can do anything, can beat you in a lot of ways,” Karl said.
Utah coach Jerry Sloan is similarly complimentary of the Nuggets, a team he saw in the preseason, before Nene was injured on opening night.
“They had everyone there and they were terrific,” Sloan said, adding, “It takes awhile when those injuries hit you. I’ve felt good about our players. Even when Andrei wasn’t there, we’d get close and be in the game and they’re still trying to play hard. That’s the most important thing, because that’s the only way we can get better.”
Staff writer Marc J. Spears contributed to this report.
Staff writer Adam Thompson can be reached at 303-820-5447 or at athompson@denverpost.com.
