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Nene, Nuggets silence Jazz

Dec 29, 2011 - 5:56 AM Denver, CO (Sports Network) - Nene poured in 25 points on 10-of-13 from the floor and pulled down seven rebounds, leading the Denver Nuggets to a 117-100 victory over the Utah Jazz at Pepsi Center.

Al Harrington finished with 18 points to go with seven boards, and Ty Lawson scored 15 points for the Nuggets, who improved to 2-0 on the young season following a 115-93 win over the defending champion Dallas Mavericks on Monday.

Rudy Fernandez donated 11 points and eight assists, while Danilo Gallinari chipped in with 11 points and five rebounds.

"We trust each other," Nene said. "We're going to try and help each other, we're going to pass the ball and we're going to make shots, that's a team. We had fun out there, everybody saw that. When we play the right way, we're going to have fun."

Al Jefferson led the Jazz with 19 points and five rebounds, and Alec Burks scored 15 points in under 10 minutes of action. Paul Millsap netted 13 points and grabbed eight boards, while C.J. Miles also had 13 points for the Jazz, who dropped to 0-2.

The game remained close through the majority of the opening quarter, as the Nuggets shot 50 percent from the floor and Utah shot 39 percent. The quarter featured four lead changes before the Nuggets began to pull away slightly.

Trailing by one, 18-17 with 4:45 to play in the opening 12 minutes, the Nuggets used an 11-2 run to go ahead by eight, 28-20, and led by five, 28-23 after one quarter of play.

Denver led through the duration of the second quarter, and put some serious distance between themselves and the Jazz in the latter stages of the first half.

After a trey by Devin Harris cut the Nuggets' lead to two, 42-40, with 5:39 to play in the half, the Nuggets used an offensive explosion to blow the game wide open, outscoring Utah 21-6 to lead by a comfortable 17-point margin, 63-46 at halftime.

A trey by Gordon Hayward snapped the run to open the third quarter, but a jumper by Nene with 6:10 left in the third stanza gave the Nuggets a comfortable 77-58 lead. Denver led by 22, 88-66 after three quarters of play.

The Nuggets continued their prolific shooting in the final period, shooting 52 percent from the floor and 3-of-4 from beyond the arc. Utah picked up its game slightly in the final quarter, shooting 61 percent from the floor and outscoring Denver 34-29 in the frame, but the mountain was too steep to climb as Denver held on for the win.

"We let them go where they wanted to go on the floor early," Jazz head coach Tyrone Corbin said. "As a result, they got lobs, they got drives to the basket, too many things, so we have to get it figured out. We've been talking about creating an identity, and the identity we have right now is that they can get whatever they want to get, and we can't settle for that."

Game Notes

Denver shot 54 percent from the floor and 32 percent from beyond the arc, while Utah shot 48 percent from the floor and 44 percent from three-point range...Nuggets guard Arron Afflalo finished with 10 points and five rebounds...Denver scored 68 of its 117 points in the paint, while Utah scored 42 points in the paint...Hayward and Harris each had 10 points.