Two-foot shots do wonders for field-goal percentages, and the Utah Jazz got more than its fair share Wednesday in a season-preserving 115-104 win over the Nuggets at the Pepsi Center.
The Jazz shot 58.5 percent from the field – a season-best for a Denver foe – in a game where the Nuggets could have used the interior defense of center Marcus Camby, who sat out with a back strain. Camby said he expects to return Friday against Minnesota. Denver also pulled down a season-low 17 defensive rebounds on a night when there weren’t many to be had.
Down as many as 16 points, the Nuggets bought themselves some life when DerMarr Johnson’s 3-pointer opened the fourth quarter to bring his team within five. But Utah (34-37) hit its first five field goals of the period, all at close range and most barely contested, to regain control.
“They just kept getting layup after layup after layup,” Nuggets coach George Karl said.
The Nuggets’ odds of closing out the Northwest Division still look good, though they could have removed plenty of suspense from the season’s last weeks by taking care of Utah. Instead, Denver still needs a combination of six wins or Jazz losses to clinch.
“It could come back to bite us. I hope it doesn’t. But it could. We let one get away. So I guess the game down there in a few days means a lot,” said forward Kenyon Martin, referring to the April 12 rematch in Salt Lake City.
More importantly, the Nuggets (40-32) squandered a chance to make up ground in the race for home-court advantage in the playoffs. A win would have tied them with Memphis, which would face them in the first round if the postseason started today. The Grizzlies lost at New Jersey on Wednesday.
“We just didn’t have any energy, intensity or anything like that,” Nuggets forward Reggie Evans said. “A lack of effort. A lack of energy. Just a lot of lack of everything.”
The free-throw disparity also helped do Denver in – Utah reached the line 41 times to the Nuggets’ 24. Carmelo Anthony and Karl each drew technical fouls in protest.
“Utah’s a team that (nearly) leads the league in fouling and tonight on our own home court we didn’t get much of a free-throw break,” Karl said. “I’m not going to comment on the refereeing, but there were a lot of people in white uniforms tonight who were not happy.”
Mehmet Okur led the Jazz with 24 points, including nine off 3-pointers. Andrei Kirilenko added 21 points, nine rebounds and seven blocks. Anthony continued his efficient offensive play for Denver, scoring 31 points on 14-for-25 shooting before fouling out, while Andre Miller had 19 points and 12 assists.
After taking an early seven-point lead, the Nuggets watched Utah speed past them on the strength of the Jazz’s 23-14 second quarter.
The Nuggets scored 31 points in the first quarter, but Karl said Utah’s zone slowed his team down from there. He had feared the Jazz might enter the game with more purpose.
“We were a happy team and not a serious team,” he said. “They were playoff-serious.”
Adam Thompson can be reached at 303-820-5447 or at athompson@denverpost.com.
