Hayward leads Jazz over Nuggets, scores 34
The Utah Jazz ended their season on a high note Wednesday night when they took on the Denver Nuggets. The Jazz, led by rookie forward Gordon Hayward’s career high 34 points, came out on top with a score of 107-103.
The win against the Nuggets was the Jazz’s second win in two games to close out the season, leaving both the players and coaches optimistic about the future.
“We’re starting to get it,” said Jazz head coach Ty Corbin. “We’re starting to get into that groove and we’re starting to trust each other.”
Utah came out ready to play, quickly driving the lead to five in the first two minutes of the game. Denver continued to chip away at the lead bringing the deficit to one halfway through the first quarter when Ty Lawson hit a Jump shot from19 feet out.
From the seven-minute mark on, the lead changed six times as each team fought to take control of the game. The Jazz looked ready to put together a run in the final seconds of the quarter when Watson connected with Derek Favors for an alley-oop dunk with 1:11 seconds left.
The Nuggets hit three layups in a row to carry a two-point lead into the second quarter.
The second period started off quickly when Hayward hit his first three of the game 24 seconds in to give the Jazz a one-point lead. The excitement didn’t stop there, as the lead would change seven times in the first five minutes.
Denver settled down and used an official timeout to their advantage to put a seven-point margin between them and the Jazz. Hayward stepped up again for Utah, hitting his second three-pointer in the period to jump-start the Jazz offense with 2:33 to go in the half.
The Jazz players followed Hayward’s lead as they held the nuggets to just two points and added 10 points of their own to carry a three-point lead into halftime.
Utah opened the second half with a 13-4 run surprising the Nuggets and taking control of the game with 6:48 to play in the period. The Nuggets cut the Jazz’s lead to six a minute later but Hayward responded with a three-pointer to continue Utah’s momentum.
The Jazz pushed the lead to 11 their largest of the night with 2:58 seconds to go. The Nuggets came back with an eight point run to bring the Jazz’s lead to four to end the period.
The Nuggets kept the game close through most of the fourth quarter and took the lead back on a pair of Chris Anderson free throws with five minutes to go in the game. Denver looked ready to runaway with the game when Al Harrington hit a three-pointer to put them up by four.
Hayward continued his dominance drilling four free-throws and Al Jefferson stepped up adding a jump-shot to put the Jazz up by four with 8.8 seconds left in the game.
The Jazz played solidly all game finishing with 37 rebounds. Hayward’s 34 points lead all players.
“I wasn’t thinking, I was just playing,” Hayward said of his career high performance. Hayward has stepped in the past three months and has become a dominant force for the Jazz.
“He’s learned so much this year and now he’s starting to show it,” Corbin said.
The 2011 season has been a rollercoaster ride for the Jazz, but their final two wins have players looking towards next year positively.
“This is definitely a high,” Hayward said. “It’s good to go into the off-season on this note, it gives you confidence and motivation.”
–meredith.kinney@aggiemail.usu.edu