Denver 126, Utah 113 (Nuggets lead 1-0)

I don’t want to skip the entire first three quarters, but I can’t help but admit that this one really came down to the fourth quarter. Actually, it really came down to CARMELO ANTHONY!

Melo scored a playoff career-high 42 points en route to a 126-113 win against the Jazz. But it wasn’t just him who lifted the team to victory in the fourth quarter – JR Swish (aka Smith) was swishing them from three-point land as well.

JR was responsible for blowing the game open as he drilled three straight threes and give the Nuggets a 99-93 lead (from 90-90 tie). The way he fires up threes is incredible, but when he catches fire, it is truly amazing. When he’s on, he’s the best shooter in basketball. Case closed.

As for Melo though, he was 18-25 from the floor as part of his 42 point night. You really don’t see 40 point games too often in the playoffs because of a rise in defense, but not in this series.

Utah lost C Mehmet Okur in the first half, as he aggravated an Achilles injury. And they won’t be with F Andrei Kirilendko in the series. Luckily, F Carlos Boozer was in the lineup and scored 19 points. I wonder if that rib injury was holding him back though.

Kenyon Martin was on the floor for Denver, and he grabbed 12 boards in 34 minutes – by far the most amount of minutes he’s played in over a month. But of course, head coach George Karl was not with the team as he continues his throat cancer treatment, but interim coach Adrian Dantley did a great job filling in. I was worried whether that would hurt the team come playoff time, but so far, so good.

I really like this series, mostly because these are two teams that just go right at it. They don’t fool around with mind games and other distractions, and they just go out and play some serious ball. Obviously, the Jazz will have to win one on the Nuggets’ home floor, but I’m not sure if it’ll happen in Game 2 – mostly because Anthony is just in a groove after this one.

Bigger question: will Utah have enough guys to suit up for another game (and be able to keep them healthy)?

-Shooter