Utah Jazz: Nuggets knock Jazz down in Game 1

DENVER — Already down Andrei Kirilenko, the Jazz lost Mehmet Okur on Saturday night — and dropped Game 1 of their opening-round NBA Western Conference playoff series with the Denver Nuggets, too.

Denver beat Utah 126-113 behind Carmelo Anthony's game-high 42 points and J.R. Smith's 20 off the bench in a late-starting ESPN-televised game at the Pepsi Center, adding further pain to an already hurting Jazz club.

"It was a tough loss, a tough game," said point guard Deron Williams, whose 26 points and 11 assists were team-highs for the Jazz.

"There's no stopping him," Williams added with reference to Anthony. "You know, you could say 'double him' — but he wasn't really taking any dribbles to score. He was just shooting over us — and I think we probably missed A.K. (Kirilenko). His long arms give him a little bit of trouble."

The Nuggets' All-Star hit 18-of-25 shots from the field.

"It was tough," said Jazz power forward Carlos Boozer, who scored 19 points. "I thought we played well for almost 31/2 (quarters). ... Then 'Melo (Anthony) just got hot and J.R. (Smith) hit some 3s that hurt us.

"He (Anthony) just took the game over. He hit shots with a hand in his face. ... That's where we miss AK's (Kirilenko's) length. But we have to do a better job, too."

With veteran small forward Kirilenko home in Salt Lake City because of re-strained calf that's kept him for most of more than a month, and Boozer playing only after having missed Wednesday night's regular-season finale with Phoenix due to a strained stomach muscle, the last thing Utah needed was to lose Okur as well.

But the Jazz's starting center re-injured his left Achilles tendon in the second quarter and did not return, leaving Boozer and backup power forward Paul Millsap to try to carry Utah's load up front during a second half that started with the Nuggets up 57-56.

Also injured for the Jazz was small forward C.J. Miles, who briefly left due to nausea after getting hit in the chest and later jammed his left middle finger.

Millsap — who finished with a 15-point, 10-rebound double double — started the third quarter instead of Okur, who'll undergo an MRI exam today.

The Jazz, meeting the Northwest Division-champion Nuggets in the playoffs for the first time since they beat them 4-3 in the 1994 conference semifinals, managed to stick with Denver despite its woes and went into the final quarter trailing by just two.