Deron Williams Scores 33, Jazz Even Series With Nuggets In 114-111 Win

Denver, CO (Sports Network) – Deron Williams scored 33 points to push the short-handed Utah Jazz to a 114-111 victory over Denver, evening the Western Conference quarterfinal series as it heads back to Salt Lake City for Game 3.Williams was 7-of-14 from the floor, but a more impressive 16-of-18 from the charity stripe, a tell-tale sign of the young, aggressive Jazz, who made 36- of-47 free throws on the game. Playing without Andrei Kirilenko (calf) and Mehmet Okur (Achilles), Denver turned to C.J. Miles, who answered with 17 points and six assists, Paul Millsap, who added 18 points off the bench, and mainstay Carlos Boozer, who had his customary double-double with 20 points and 15 rebounds.

Carmelo Anthony scored 32 points before fouling out late in the fourth, Nene added 18 points and Chauncey Billups notched a double-double with 17 points and 11 assists. Kenyon Martin added 15 points for the Nuggets, who will look to take the series lead in Game 3 on Friday.

The nip-and-tuck affair continued in the fourth period. Utah stretched out to a three-point edge, 95-92, on Millsap’s slam with 8:44 to play, but the Nuggets responded with five straight capped by two Anthony free throws. Denver held a 102-98 edge before a Millsap free throw and a Miles slam with 3:43 to play. Williams converted on a reverse layup to keep it a one-point game, 106-105, then Kyle Korver found himself open and drained a go-ahead trey with 1:28 on the clock.

Billups was fouled with 53 seconds left and the solid free-throw shooter made just 1-of-2 to keep the Jazz in front. Each team exchanged offensive fouls before Anthony fouled out with 25.4 seconds left on a reach-in steal attempt. Miles stepped to the charity stripe and calmly sank both for a three-point game, 110-107.

Martin cleaned up a wild Billups miss with 7.4 seconds to play to cut the deficit to 112-111 then Korver was fouled. The sharp-shooting swingman connected on both foul shots for a 114-111 game. Billups then raced to the other end, but his three-point running shot hit off the back rim and Boozer cleared the rebound as time expired.

A back-and-forth opening period concluded with a Williams three for breathing room and a Kyrylo Fesenko dunk to hand Utah a 33-30 edge.

Denver took the lead not even three minutes into the second stanza, 38-37, thanks to a pair of Anthony free throws. However, Denver went cold, failing to score after a Billups trey with 3:30 left in the half. The Jazz scored the half’s final 10 points capped by two Williams free throws with 24.5 ticks remaining to hold a 63-51 lead.

Six straight points pushed the margin back into a comfortable territory at 76-62 on a Boozer putback of a missed Millsap three-pointer. Denver frantically responded, rattling off the next 14 points, as Utah went about five minutes without a point. The Nuggets scored the final five points of the stretch from the charity stripe with two Anthony free throws tying the game at 76-76.

Utah regrouped and took an 88-82 lead into the fourth after Korver’s jumper capped the third-quarter scoring with 8.8 seconds to play.

Kirilenko is out for the series, while Okur suffered a ruptured left Achilles in Game 1 and is out for the playoffs (three-to-six months total)…Denver held a 56-44 scoring edge on the interior…The game featured 15 ties and 17 lead changes…J.R. Smith had nine points, but the sharp-shooter managed to make just 1-of-6 from beyond the arc…Korver scored 13 points in the win.