GAME REPORT | NUGGETS 91, BUCKS 86

ON THE COURT PLAYER OF THE GAME: Al Harrington defended the much taller Andrew Bogut for the entire fourth quarter and did some damage on the offensive end, scoring 17 points and grabbing eight rebounds to pace the Nuggets' victory. PLAY OF THE GAME: Harrington was able to push Bogut enough out of his sweet spot that the Bucks center missed a right-handed hook for the potential go-ahead points, and Denver guard Ty Lawson scored on a fast break after the stop to give Denver an 89-86 lead with 10.9 seconds left. BY THE NUMBERS: The Nuggets, despite playing without power forward Nene, held a 49-38 rebounding advantage and had 13 offensive rebounds. UP NEXT TEAMS: Bucks (2-2) vs. Utah Jazz (2-3). WHEN: 8 p.m. Tuesday. WHERE: EnergySolutions Arena. BROADCASTS: TV - FS Wisconsin. Radio - AM-620. ABOUT THE JAZZ: Utah fell to 0-3 on the road following a New Year's Eve loss in San Antonio. Al Jefferson returned from a one-game absence (inflamed right ankle) and posted his first double-double of the season with 21 points and 11 rebounds, and Josh Howard came off the bench to score a season-high 18 points. PLAYER TO WATCH DEVIN HARRIS, JAZZ Not long ago the former Wauwatosa East and Wisconsin standout was in Milwaukee for Thanksgiving and doing some work for his charitable foundation. Now he's back at the point position for the Jazz, which is a different looking team without stalwarts Deron Williams (traded to New Jersey in the same deal that brought Harris to Utah), Andrei Kirilenko and Mehmet Okur-.Through the first four games the Milwaukee native was averaging 10.5 points and 3.5 assists in 24 minutes per game. LINEUPS PROBABLE JAZZ STARTERS G Raja Bell, 6-5, Fla. International G Devin Harris, 6-3, Wisconsin F Gordon Hayward, 6-8, Butler F Paul Millsap, 6-8, La. Tech C Derrick Favors, 6-10, Ga. Tech Coach: Tyrone Corbin (second season, 10-23). Injury report: None. PROBABLE BUCKS STARTERS G S.Jackson, 6-8, Oak Hill (Va.) G B.Jennings, 6-1, Oak Hill (Va.) F Carlos Delfino, 6-6 Argentina F Ersan Ilyasova, 6-10, Turkey C Andrew Bogut, 7-0, Utah Coach: Scott Skiles (fourth season, 117-133; 12th overall, 398-384). Injury report: Tobias Harris (dehydration and muscle soreness) and Mike Dunleavy Jr. (illness) are day-to-day. THE SERIES The Jazz leads, 43-41, including a 25-17 record at home. Utah has won its last nine home games against Milwaukee, with the Bucks' last victory in Salt Lake City coming in 2001. NUMBERS GAME 15.0 Fast-break points per game for Milwaukee through three games. 20 Career-high points scored by Derrick Favors against Philadelphia on Friday. 91.4 Bucks scoring average on the road last season. NOTEBOOK DELFINO STARTS: Mike Dunleavy Jr. was not with the team for Monday night's game in Denver due to illness. But Skiles said he expected Dunleavy to be able to join the Bucks for the second game of their five-game western swing on Tuesday against the Jazz in Salt Lake City. Carlos Delfino started in place of Dunleavy. Skiles also said 19-year-old rookie Tobias Harris was progressing to the day-to-day category after missing most of training camp due to dehydration and muscle soreness. Harris said his blood level readings have been improving. "He's going to do a really rigorous workout before the game (Monday) and then we'll re-evaluate him," Skiles said. "But he's getting really close as well." NENE OUT: The Bucks caught Denver without starting power forward Nene, who sat out due to a bruised left foot. "It's an injury to his foot," Nuggets coach George Karl said, "so you've always got to be a little more cautious with something that's pounding all the time." Kosta Koufos, the 7-footer from Ohio State and fourth-year pro, started in Nene's place. FOR THE DEFENSE: Karl said the Nuggets wanted to make a strong run at Bucks forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute in free agency. Denver made a four-year, $18.7 million offer to the restricted free agent during training camp, but the Bucks quickly matched it. "We knew Kenyon (Martin) wasn't going to be here," Karl said. "Some people will take Kenyon; some people will take Moute, as that individual defender at the end of the game who can make it awful difficult on some players." Charles F. Gardner. Copyright 2012, Journal Sentinel Inc. All rights reserved. (Note: This notice does not apply to those news items already copyrighted and received through wire services or other media.) Copyright, 2012, Journal Sentinel, All Rights Reserved.