Nene propels Denver Nuggets to a 117-100 win over Utah Jazz – NBA Recap
Nene Hilario scored 25 points and 7 rebounds as the Denver Nuggets made it 2-0 by routing Utah Jazz 117-100 on Wednesday night at the Pepsi Centre, Denver.
Reserve forward Al Harrington pounded 18 points and 7 rebounds while Ty Lawson continued his hot run with 15 points for the Nuggets, who led by as many as 27 deep into the game.
Nene who went 10 of 13 from the floor let go of his play making mode in the game and tried to convert some on his own, a thing which impressed Lawson.
"He's so unselfish sometimes we have to say, `Nene, go the basket, get a bucket,"' Lawson said. "When he does that we know if he gets in trouble he can also find the open man. Sometimes we have to push him to get more aggressive."
The Jazz were led by 19 points from Al Jefferson and 13 apiece from Paul Millsap and C.J. Miles. They gave the Bronchos a run for their money early in the game and were trailing by only two, 42-40, midway through the second quarter.
That was where Nene made his move. The Brazilian big erupted with 11 points in a 21-6 burst, which propelled the Nuggets to 63-46 advantage at the break.
The Jazz were always chasing the game after that and early in the fourth a Rudy Fernandez three followed by an alley oop layup from Corey Brewer made it 103-76, the biggest differential of the game. Fernandez finished with 11 points to the game. The Nuggets also got contributions from Danilo Gallinari (11), Arron Afflalo (10) and Andre Miller, who had 7 points and a game high 12 assists.
Miller was happy with his performance, but was quick to mention the impact Nene made on the game;
"Every night is a mismatch with him, as long as he's aggressive," Miller said. "We got the ball to him, made some cuts and played from there. Once he got some easy buckets it opened it up for everyone."
For the Jazz, things fell apart again after a 25 point loss to the Los Angeles Lakers in their season opener. Although they shot better from the floor this time around, but gave one too many loose balls to the Nuggets, who scored 28 points on the 22 Jazz turnovers.
Utah are now 0-2 to the season and Coach Tyrone Corbin has one day to put his house in order, before his team faces the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday.
The Nuggets now face the Portland Trail Blazers tomorrow night.
Tags: