Utah vs Denver Notebook: Jazz 106, Nuggets 96 By Michael Kelly, for NBA.com Posted Sunday January 15, 2012 11:49PM THE FACTS: Paul Millsap had 26 points and 12 rebounds, Al Jefferson had 18 points and also grabbed 12 rebounds and the Utah Jazz beat the Denver Nuggets 106-96 on Sunday night. Gordon Hayward had a season-high 19 points for the Jazz, which has won seven of its last eight. Danilo Gallinari and Nene had 18 points each for the Nuggets, who finished their homestand 2-2. QUOTABLE: "I would probably blame (the loss) on our NBA cool. We thought we were cool after kicking Miami's butt and we got embarrassed. The NBA game does that quite frequently. If you think you're better than you are or you think you're cooler than you are and you don't think you've got to put in the hard work to win games, you get embarrassed -- and we got embarrassed." -- Nuggets coach George Karl. THE STAT: The Jazz knew the key to beating the Nuggets was slowing them down. In nine of their first 12 games the Nuggets had at least 20 fast-break points. Utah held them to 11 Sunday, and only two in the second half. TURNING POINT: After Denver pulled to within a bucket on a 3-pointer by Gallinari, Millsap took over. He scored six straight points to force the Nuggets to take a timeout. It didn't help. Millsap stayed hot, scoring eight more to push the lead to 95-83 with 4:50 left. QUOTABLE II: "My teammates did a great job of finding me, of going to me. There was a mismatch and we tried to expose it. Our team is very unselfish and they find the guy with the mismatch. You get in a zone like that, you get hot and start feeling it, guys just start looking for you." -- Millsap HOT: Millsap has been a workhorse for the Jazz the past four games. He had a season-high 29 in a loss to the Lakers on Tuesday and is averaging 23 points in that span. QUOTABLE III: "In my opinion they kind of disrespected him by putting (Gallinari) on him. He had an advantage and he got hot. Once he gets in that type of zone it's hard to stop him. He was in that zone tonight." -- Jefferson, on Millsap. NOT: The Nuggets foul shooting was just that -- foul. They were shooting 59 percent at one point in the fourth quarter, and if it weren't for Gallinari's 12-for-12 contribution at the line they would have been 14-for-27 on the night. INSIDE THE ARENA: Colorado Rockies manager Jim Tracy was in attendance. ... Denver mayor Michael Hancock was sporting a Tom Brady jersey as part of a bet he lost to Boston's mayor over the Broncos-Patriots game Saturday. GOOD MOVE: The Jazz dictated their pace throughout the game. Making shots -- Utah hit 52 percent from the field -- helped, but Denver could never get its running game going. BAD MOVE: It was an injury-plagued night for both teams. Utah started the game without forward Josh Howard (strained left quad) and then lost Derrick Favors to a sprained left ankle in the first half. Denver guard Rudy Fernandez left the game in the second quarter with a strained right Achilles tendon. ROOKIE WATCH: Alec Burks had another good night in his return to the state where he played his college ball. The former University of Colorado star had 15 points in the first meeting here on Dec. 28, and he followed that with 10 points off the bench Sunday. NOTABLE: The Jazz are 5-0 all time when Millsap scores at least 26 points and grabs 12 rebounds. ... Denver made its first two field goals of the fourth quarter and shot 3-for-17 the rest of the way. UP NEXT: For the Jazz, Tuesday vs. L.A. Clippers, Thursday vs. Dallas, Saturday vs. Minnesota. For the Nuggets, Tuesday @ Milwaukee, Wednesday @ Philadelphia, Friday @ Washington.

• published: 16 Jan 2012
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