Carmelo Anthony got the help he was begging for, J.R. Smith found his long-range touch and the Denver Nuggets avoided elimination with a 116-102 victory over the Utah Jazz on Wednesday night. The Nuggets, trying to become the first team in four years to overcome a 3-1 deficit in the playoffs, sent the series back to Salt Lake City for Game 6 on Friday night despite losing center Nene to a sprained left knee in the first half. “We know it’s going to be a tough game up there, tough arena, Utah fans are pretty tough,” Nuggets acting coach Adrian Dantley said. “But we’re glad we did what we did tonight.” Anthony had 26 points and 11 rebounds, Chauncey Billups had 21 points, and Smith made four big 3-pointers among his 17 points for Denver, which won a game in which it was facing elimination for the first time since the 1994 Western Conference semifinals against Utah. http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/recap?gid=2010042807
