Nuggets at Jazz
THE STORY: Don’t expect much from the Denver Nuggets when they visit the Utah Jazz in the regular-season finale on Wednesday - they have already done enough. The Nuggets produced a 50-win season and earned a No. 5 seed in the Western Conference playoffs despite trading superstar Carmelo Anthony to New York on Feb. 21. Denver is 18-6 since, and is sure to be dangerous in the postseason, where they will open against either Oklahoma City or Dallas. If the Thunder and Mavericks wind up with identical records after Wednesday’s games, coach George Karl will get his wish to go up against the Mavericks in the first round.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, ROOT Sports, Altitude
ABOUT THE JAZZ (38-43): Utah won at New Orleans 90-78 on Monday, but has lost 10 of its last 12 games. The Utah's season went downhill fast after coach Jerry Sloan resigned on Feb. 10 after 22-plus seasons in Utah. The Jazz, who were 31-23 when he left, lost their first three games under Ty Corbin. The final nail in Utah’s 2010-11 coffin came when Deron Williams was traded to New Jersey on Feb. 23. The Jazz are 7-17 since. Sloan has hinted he may return to coaching if the right situation came along.
ABOUT THE NUGGETS (50-31): Denver could be missing up to six players on Wednesday, including five who log significant minutes. Guard Arron Afflalo gave his injured hamstring a test Monday and played 16 minutes of the first half before shutting it down. Afflalo has missed 12 of the last 16 games, and the prognosis does not look good for the playoffs. George Karl, who became the seventh coach in NBA history to reach 1,000 wins this season, should receive plenty of votes for Coach of the Year. After dealing with the melodrama all season, Karl was able to seamlessly integrate the players he received from the Knicks into Denver's system.
WHO'S HOT/WHO’S NOT: Denver’s Chris Andersen had 14 points and 12 rebounds in the Nuggets’ 134-111 win over Golden State on Monday and has two double-doubles this season, both in the last four games. J.R. Smith is averaging 20 points and is 10-for-22 from 3-point range in his last two. Utah rookie Gordon Hayward is averaging 14.8 points and 36.4 minutes in his last five games - 9.8 and 19.8 above his season numbers, respectively. Al Jefferson had scored in double figures for 14 straight games before he was held to eight Monday.
KEY STATISTIC: Nine Nuggets scored in double figures Monday for the first time since Nov. 24, 1987, when 10 players accomplished this feat.
SEASON SERIES: Denver won two of three, including a 103-101 victory at Utah on March 3 as Ty Lawson scored 23 points. The Jazz won 113-106 at Denver on Feb. 4 while the Nuggets prevailed 110-88 on Oct. 27.
KEY INJURIES: DENVER: C Nene (groin); F Wilson Chandler (ankle); F Danilo Gallinari (ankle); F Al Harrington (illness); G Arron Afflalo (hamstring); C Timofey Mozgov (knee). UTAH: G Rajah Bell (foot); F Andrei Kirilenko (knee); C Kyrylo Fesenko (thumb); G Ronnie Price (calf).
LAST WORD: “The new guys have been working hard, putting in extra time to learn the system – and the sky’s the limit for this team as long as we come out and compete for 48 minutes.’’ – Nuggets’ Kenyon Martin.