SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Jazz slowed down the rest of the Denver Nuggets enough for the first three quarters last night that they could withstand Carmelo Anthony's surge in the fourth.

The Jazz held off the Nuggets, 117-106, surviving a late scare when Anthony scored 12 of his 39 points in the fourth quarter to take a 3-1 series lead in the Western Conference playoffs.

"It looked like we were going to run out of gas before we finished the game, but I thought we ended up having a good finish," Utah coach Jerry Sloan said.

Denver was down by 19 in the fourth quarter before Anthony got the Nuggets within range to make the finish interesting. They got within seven points three times, but Utah stopped each run before it got any worse and the Jazz sealed the game by making 11 of 14 from the foul line in the final period.

Carlos Boozer had 31 points and 13 rebounds, and Deron Williams added 24 points and 13 assists for the Jazz, who can close the series with a win Wednesday night at Denver in Game 5.

The Jazz controlled the first three quarters, seeming quicker and more determined than Denver while chasing down loose balls and firing up the fans with every hustle play. The frustrated Nuggets battled foul trouble, losing Chauncey Billups while trying to rally in the fourth quarter.

C.J. Miles scored 21 and Wesley Matthews added 18 points for Utah, which led by as much as 20 and had the Nuggets off balance until Anthony led the late surge.

"The energy and intensity is not there at times," Anthony said. "We start out the game well and then for some odd reason, we turn around and we are down 10 or 11 points."

Anthony converted a three-point play, then hit a 3-pointer to cut Utah's lead to 90-79, but he was called for his fifth foul with 8:45 left to play when he got tangled up with Williams while going for a rebound.

Anthony sat for a couple of minutes and the Nuggets trailed 98-85 when he returned. Denver put together a few more runs that got it close enough, but Utah was able to hang on.

"You know they're going to make runs," Williams said. "They're a team that can score in bunches."

Kenyon Martin and Chauncey Billups scored 14 apiece for the Nuggets. Nene and J.R. Smith both had 10.

DENVER 25 20 23 38—106

UTAH 31 23 32 31—117

DENVER–Anthony 13-26 9-9 39, Martin 5-11 4-5 14, Nene 2-3 6-12 10, Billups 6-14 1-1 14, Afflalo 4-8 1-1 9, Smith 3-11 3-3 10, Lawson 3-7 2-4 8, Andersen 1-3 0-0 2, Graham 0-0 0-0 0, Petro 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 37-84 26-35 106.

UTAH–Miles 8-15 4-4 21, Boozer 13-19 5-9 31, Fesenko 1-4 4-7 6, Williams 6-14 10-12 24, Matthews 7-11 3-4 18, Millsap 4-7 4-6 12, Korver 1-5 0-0 3, Price 0-0 0-0 0, Koufos 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 41-77 30-42 117.

3-Point Goals—Denver 6-16 (Anthony 4-4, Billups 1-4, Smith 1-4, Lawson 0-1, Afflalo 0-3), Utah 5-18 (Williams 2-5, Matthews 1-3, Korver 1-3, Miles 1-7). Fouled Out—Billups, Millsap. Rebounds—Denver 53 (Nene, Anthony 11), Utah 51 (Boozer 13). Assists—Denver 13 (Billups 4), Utah 24 (Williams 13). Total Fouls—Denver 34, Utah 29. Technicals—Denver delay of game. A—19,911 (19,911).