Denver Nuggets
Nuggets lose finale in Utah - will open with OKC in playoffs
Posted: Apr 13, 2011 11:01 PM by Lee Douglas
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Rookie Gordon Hayward scored a career-high 34 points and hit five 3-pointers to give the Utah Jazz a 107-103 victory over playoff-bound Denver in the season finale for both teams Wednesday night.
The game meant little to the Nuggets, who already had locked up the Western Conference's No. 5 seed and rested many of their players. They probably wish they had sat starting guard Ty Lawson as well. He had to be helped off the court after spraining his left ankle early in the second quarter and did not return.
The Jazz also had nothing to play for, other than trying to win back fans for next season and finishing with a winning mark at home. They accomplished both, with rookie coach Ty Corbin opting for a young lineup with only eight players active.
Wilson Chandler led the Nuggets with 27 points.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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