NBA Playoffs Rd 1: Denver Nuggets vs. Utah Jazz

[King Taharqa]

(4) Denver Nuggets (53-29)

STARTING 5

PG #1 Chauncey Billups

6'3 202 lbs

Colorado '97

19.5 PPG 5.6 APG 1.1 SPG 38.6 3PT%

SG #6 Arron Afflalo

6'5 215 lbs

UCLA '08

8.8 PPG 3.1 RPG 1.7 APG 43.4 3PT%

SF #15 Carmelo Anthony

6'8 230 lbs

Syracuse '03

28.2 PPG 6.6 RPG 3.2 APG 83.0 FT% 31.6 3PT%

PF #4 Kenyon Martin

6'9 240 lbs

Cincinnati '00

11.5 PPG 9.4 RPG 1.1 BPG

C #31 Nene Hilario

6'11 250 lbs

Brazil '02

13.8 PPG 7.6 RPG 58.7 FG%

BENCH

PG-Ty Lawson

PG-Anthony Carter

SG-JR Smith

SF-Joey Graham

PF-Malik Allen

C-Chris "Birdman" Andersen

HEAD COACH

Adrian Dantley

[King Taharqa]

(5) Utah Jazz (53-29)

STARTING 5

PG #8 Deron Williams

6'3 207 lbs

Illinois '05

18.6 PPG 10.6 APG 4.0 RPG 1.3 SPG 47.2 FG% 37.2 3PT%

SG #23 Wesley Matthews

6'5 220 lbs

Marquette '09

9.4 PPG 48.7 FG% 38.7 3PT%

SF #34 CJ Miles

6'6 227 lbs

Skyline HS '05 (Dallas, TX)

9.8 PPG 2.6 RPG 34.0 3PT%

PF #5 Carlos Boozer

6'9 266 lbs

Duke '02

19.5 PPG 11.2 RPG 3.2 APG 56.2 FG%

C #44 Kyrylo Fesenko

7'1 300 lbs

Ukraine '07

2.6 PPG 1.8 RPG 0.4 BPG 54.7 FG%

BENCH

PG-Ronnie Price

PG-Sundiata Gaines

SG-Kyle Korver

PF-Paul Milsap

C-Kosta Koufos

HEAD COACH

Jerry Sloan

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Im gonna take the Nuggets in 6 games over the Jazz.

[carpanfan96]

I'm taking the Nuggets in 6, but I wouldn't be surprised if the Jazz win in 7.

[HeatCheck]

Jazz looked bad last night, and they needed that win to get home court. I believe they've only lost like 8 or 9 games at home. I'm still hesitant in picking this but Nuggets in 7.

[tarheelblue89]

Jazz in 6

Clearly the better team, and the Nuggets are reeling. D-Will in the playoffs, ain't gonna stop him.

[HeatCheck]

Jazz in 6

Clearly the better team, and the Nuggets are reeling. D-Will in the playoffs, ain't gonna stop him.

I don't know if I'd say clearly the better team. They are a more well-rounded team, but the Nuggets are 3-1 against Utah this year. Two games were without Melo with one of them being that one loss. Denver can't play defense but they can sure put up some points. I can see what you are saying with D-Will but whose gonna stop Melo. I can see him going off.

I'd feel a whole lot better picking Utah if they were home. I do see this going 7 though.

[CarolinaPride5]

Nuggs in 6 or 7

[tarheelblue89]

I don't know if I'd say clearly the better team. They are a more well-rounded team, but the Nuggets are 3-1 against Utah this year. Two games were without Melo with one of them being that one loss. Denver can't play defense but they can sure put up some points. I can see what you are saying with D-Will but whose gonna stop Melo. I can see him going off.

I'd feel a whole lot better picking Utah if they were home. I do see this going 7 though.

W/Out Karl, the Jazz are clearly better. The Nuggets are finding out how much Karl meant to this team.

[HeatCheck]

Melo has a playoff high in points with 42. Game still not over so he can still add to his personal best.

EDIT: Nuggets win game one at home 126-113. Like I said who is going to stop Melo. Jazz sure miss AK47's defense on Carmelo tonight.

[CarolinaPride5]

What a great game last night... Melo' and Smith just went off! Very fun to watch.

[tarheelblue89]

Well the Jazz are screwed now, with Okur going down, they got no shot.

The Nuggets aren't going to stop D-Will, and the Jazz aren't going to stop Melo.

It's gonna come down to who can stop the role players, and without AK47 and Okur, the Jazz won't be able to do it.

[King Taharqa]

DENVER (AP)—The Utah Jazz are down one game and two players since the regular season ended.

An MRI exam Sunday on center Mehmet Okur’s left leg confirmed fears of a torn Achilles’ tendon, eliminating him from the remainder of the NBA playoffs and, in all likelihood, the world championships in his native Turkey this summer.

“It’s horrible, man. We feel bad for Memo,” Jazz forward Carlos Boozer said.

Okur flew back to Salt Lake City to mull his surgery options, leaving his dispirited teammates behind in Denver to figure out how to stop the Nuggets without him and forward Andrei Kirilenko, who aggravated a strained calf in practice on Thursday.

“It’s a sad injury, bad injury, I wish him the best,” Jazz point guard Deron Williams said as he sat dejectedly on near practice court at the Pepsi Center. “Memo’s a big part of our team. He stretches the defense. He’s a guy you really can’t replace just because his inside-outside game is really unmatched.”

Okur had been bothered by Achilles’ tendinitis in his left leg since April 7 and missed a game but he fought through it and received a painkilling shot before Game 1.

Jazz general manager Kevin O’Connor said he didn’t believe that injection had anything to do with Okur tearing the tendon.

“We would never have put a player in a compromising position if there was any indication that the shot would have masked anything or done anything like that,” O’Connor said. “We would have never done that. We’d never put a game ahead of a player’s health. … That’s not in our DNA.”

O’Connor said Okur’s injection “was certainly his call.”

“Is it related? I’m sure in same way, shape or form, everyone’s going to put it on the fact that it is, but (team doctors) didn’t feel there was any additional risk in doing that,” O’Connor said.

Okur flew back to Salt Lake City without addressing reporters or his teammates.

Okur was injured when his right leg slipped as he was driving to the basket Saturday night, shifting all his weight to his left leg, which twisted awkwardly as he fell to the floor—what O’Connor called “a perfect storm.”

Following surgery, Okur will need three months before he can begin rehab, which can take several more months, likely preventing him from playing in the world basketball championships Aug. 28-Sept. 12.

O’Connor said the Jazz have made some recommendations but it will be up to Okur to pick his surgeon.

Okur’s absence saps the Jazz of another playmaker who spreads the court.

“He’s definitely a threat out in the perimeter,” Nuggets acting coach Adrian Dantley said. “With him not playing, it helps our schemes a little bit defensively. He’s a very important part of their team, an important part of their offense.”

Jazz coach Jerry Sloan was his usually stoic self when discussing Okur’s season-ending injury.

“That’s just part of basketball. Not anything you can do about it. We still have to play. We just wish him the best trying to recover,” he said.

As for the Jazz, “we are who we are. We’re not going to be able to do too much, other than play some of the younger guys that maybe haven’t had a chance to play,” Sloan said.

That includes Kosta Koufos and Kyrylo Fesenko. Sloan said he would likely keep Paul Millsap coming off the bench.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AnkCAUVvzucJtaE4iE.0Ehu8vLYF?slug=ap-jazz-nuggets

[theyhateme45]

What a great game last night... Melo' and Smith just went off! Very fun to watch.

I agree... it was great to watch!! I know a lot of people don't like smith, but I enjoy watching him play... especially when he starts raining three's like last night.

[HeatCheck]

Time to watch the best scorer in the NBA.