Utah Jazz dismantle Nuggets down the stretch, close out series 4-2

SALT LAKE CITY — Good news for the Jazz is pretty much everything they did Friday night at sold-out EnergySolutions Arena, save for point guard Deron Williams bruising his left elbow in the final few seconds.

Utah beat Denver 112-104 in Game 6 of their first-round NBA playoff matchup with the Denver Nuggets, taking the best-of-seven series 4-2 to advance to the Western Conference semifinals for the third time in four years.

The prize?

A second-round opponent — the defending NBA-champion and West's top-seeded Los Angeles Lakers — that has eliminated the Jazz from each of past two postseasons.

"Third time's a charm, right?" Williams asked.

It certainly could be, if the Jazz's luck against a Nuggets team that beat them in 3-of-4 meetings during the regular season is any indication.

"We just have a lot of fight in us, you know?" Williams said.

"We didn't listen to what everyone was saying outside of our locker room," he added. "We thought we could beat this team. We struggled against them in the regular season, but we just had confidence."

The Jazz displayed just that while getting contributions all around Friday, from undrafted rookie Wesley Matthews' team-high 23 points to double-doubles from Carlos Boozer (22 points and a game-high 20 rebounds) and Williams (14 points and a game-high 10 assists).

Moreover, Utah got double-figure scoring from subs Paul Millsap (21 points), Ronnie Price (12) and Kyle Korver (10) — critical contributions from a bench that struggled in Wednesday's Game 5 loss.

"Amazing, man. Amazing," Matthews said of the backups. "We don't win this game without them."

"Everybody played great," Boozer added. "That's the mark of our team — we've had guys step up like that all season when we've had guys out."

Except for Williams' late injury, then, much really was grand for Utah.

The bad news for the Jazz beyond all that good, though, may be who awaits. That would be Kobe Bryant and Lakers, who closed out on Oklahoma City on Friday.

Game 1 in that series comes Sunday at the Staples Center.

"I guarantee you we'll be ready for it," Millsap said. "We've just got to keep our focus."

Before pondering and perhaps even fretting over what is to come, however, the Jazz have every right to bask in what just was.