Nuggets-Jazz Preview

4/11/2008 1:44 PM

By ANDY LEFKOWITZ
STATS Editor

Rallying for a win over the team they're battling for the last Western Conference playoff spot has given the Denver Nuggets some breathing room. It won't give them a chance to rest for very long.

The Nuggets will try to strengthen their hold on a playoff berth as they play their final road game of the season on Friday night when they face the Northwest Division champion Utah Jazz.

Denver (48-31) got 33 points from Allen Iverson and outscored Golden State's bench 34-7 on Thursday in a 114-105 win to move a game ahead of the Warriors for eighth place in the West with three to play.

"Everybody knew what was at stake," Iverson said after the game, in which the Nuggets erased a 16-point first-quarter deficit. "It's easy for players to say it's just another game. But everybody knows it wasn't just another game. It was a game that both teams felt they had to have."

Because that win gave the Nuggets the tiebreaker over Golden State, they could clinch a postseason berth as early as Friday. It seems a bit unlikely, however, since Denver would need to win at Utah (52-27) - one of the West's top teams - and the Warriors would have to lose at home to a Los Angeles Clippers team which is 2-15 since March 10.

The Nuggets won't have to worry about what Golden State does as long as they win two of their remaining three games. They wrap up the regular season at home against Houston and Memphis.

"We get to enjoy this for a day," Nuggets coach George Karl said of the win over the Warriors. "But we have to get back and try to beat Utah."

That may not be easy for Denver, looking to make its fifth straight postseason appearance. The Nuggets have lost 20 of 23 in Utah since 1996, and the Jazz have the league's best home record this season at 35-4.

Utah has lost once in its last 26 home games, and Denver didn't come close to winning in its only visit to Salt Lake City this season, losing 132-105 on March 8. The Jazz hit 60.2 percent (50-of-83) from the field, its third-best shooting performance of the season.

As a division winner, Utah can finish no worse than the No. 4 seed in the West and appears unlikely to move up, probably needing to win out and get help.

The Jazz are looking to bounce back after a 97-94 loss to Dallas on Thursday. Utah's Deron Williams banked in a 3-pointer with 5.8 seconds to play to tie the score at 94, but the Mavericks' Dirk Nowitzki answered with a 3-pointer with less than a second remaining.

"He was wide open," Utah coach Jerry Sloan said. "Who else was going to shoot?"

Mehmet Okur led Utah with 19 points and 14 rebounds, and Williams had 18 points and 12 assists.

Carlos Boozer, who leads the Jazz with 21.5 points and 10.5 rebounds per game, was held to 10 points and five boards as his struggles continued. He's averaged 12.0 points and 6.3 rebounds in four games this month while shooting 41.2 percent from the field.