SALT LAKE CITY(AP) The NBA's replacement referees were a non-issue in the preseason opener, just as the league wanted.

The Utah Jazz beat the Denver Nuggets 103-87 on Thursday night in an exhibition game that featured 69 fouls and very little objection to any of them.

Whether it was preseason indifference or players and coaches heeding to the league warning to be nice to the new officials, there wasn't much of a reaction to the crew of Tre Maddox, Deldre Carr and C.J. Washington.

"They'll have a month to get ready for the season, just like we will,'' Denver coach George Karl said. "They'll learn some stuff. Right now, I don't see it being a problem.''

Karl seemed less concerned with the officiating than he was with the Nuggets' mistakes in the preseason opener. Denver had 27 turnovers and was outrebounded 44-37.

The Nuggets were also called for 39 fouls to the Jazz's 30. Other than the quantity of calls, there was not much to note about the officiating as the league called upon replacements during its lockout with the referees union.

Players mostly shook their heads and smiled after the whistle until the third quarter, when Utah coach Jerry Sloan had a mini-outburst after Paul Millsap was called for fouling Carmelo Anthony. Sloan leaped out of his seat, barked a few statements at Carr and sat right back down.

"All refs are going to make good calls, make bad calls, miss a few, make a few. That's just the nature of the beast,'' said Denver's Chauncey Billups, who had 10 points and three assists. "It just really comes down to personality.''

The league warned teams Wednesday about publicly criticizing the officials. There was scarcely of that Thursday as the Jazz and the Nuggets plodded through the exhibition looking little as if the Northwest Division rivals they will be once again when the regular season begins.

Deron Williams and C.J. Miles scored 16 apiece to lead the Jazz and Williams added six assists in 21 minutes. Mehmet Okur had 10 points and seven rebounds for the Jazz, who used 16 players and got at least two points from each of them.

"I thought it was a good first game for us. We did a lot of things well,'' Williams said. "There's definitely some things we can look at and say we can do better, but for a first preseason game, I thought we did well.''

Utah's Carlos Boozer has seven points and seven rebounds in his first game since comments about potential trades over the summer to Chicago and Miami. Boozer was still cheered in the introductions, just not as loud as his teammates.

"I had a great reception from the fans. I was happy about that,'' Boozer said. "I want to continue to earn their respect and earn their trust again.''

Anthony led the Nuggets with 13 points.

The Nuggets trimmed a 17-point lead to eight at halftime and got within five in the third quarter before the Jazz pulled away to another big lead. Williams hit his second 3-pointer of the period to put Utah up 78-63 and the Jazz led 84-71 entering the fourth, when Utah's reserves held off Denver's backups.

"We scored our points after they came at us and put some pressure on us,'' Sloan said. "I liked the way we responded.''

NOTES: The Jazz leave Saturday on a European tour that includes games in London and Madrid. ... The Nuggets had nine turnovers in the first quarter. ... Denver's Anthony Carter was the only player to get in the game and not score, but did have five assists for the Nuggets. ... Miles was 5 for 7 from the field.

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POSTGAME QUOTES
Utah Jazz 103, Denver Nuggets 87 October 1, 2009

Notes: Utah is now 142-120 all-time in preseason play . . . Starting guards C.J. Miles and Deron Williams paced Utah with 16 points each . . . Williams tallied 14 points in the third quarter.

Jerry Sloan – Head Coach (1-0 preseason) On the game
“We felt good about getting everyone that dressed into the game which is sometimes hard to do. But it’s the most important thing to get everyone playing and hopefully learn something. We had moments that we played pretty good (defensively). In the third quarter they got after us a bit and made us play.”
On play in the third quarter
“We scored our points after they came at us and put some pressure on us. I liked the way we responded.”

Mehmet Okur – Center [10 points, 7 rebounds) On first game as a group
“I felt we did a really good job. Especially at the beginning of the game, we really shared the ball, we were active on defense and we were able to help each other on the defensive end. It was a nice game…a nice start.”
On playing preseason games in Europe
“I can’t wait. It’s going to be an exciting couple of games out there. Most of my teammates haven’t been overseas before. I’m looking forward to it.”

Deron Williams – Guard [16 points, 6 rebounds) On the game
“I thought it was a pretty good first preseason game. We had a few ups and downs, but for the most part we did what we wanted to do. We won the game and that is the most important part. We did a great job of executing. Defensively, we helped each other out, we were active, we talked. There were some promising things from tonight that we can take away.”
On the replacement officials
“I think they did a great job. They looked like veteran officials out there.”

Notes: The Nuggets had six players score in double figures... The Nuggets trailed for most of the game, with their last lead at 8:20 in the first quarter…Renaldo Balkman had a game-high 11 rebounds.

George Karl – Head Coach ( 0-1 this preseason) On the game
“In general we had too many defensive mistakes and too many passing mistakes. Our bad offense created bad defensive situations by letting them have a lot more shots than we had and a lot more rebounds. They won the hustle game and they do that on this court almost every night.”
On new officials
“They were fine. They were fine. I think the league has an incredible network and system to produce good referees. They’ll have a month to get ready for the season just like we will. They’ll learn some stuff, right now I don’t see it being a problem.”
On turnovers
“I was a little disappointed in how we came out early in the game. I thought our first unit kind of played it way too cool and casual. We never played well enough after that to catch up. We did some good things.”

Renaldo Balkman – Forward [10 points, 11 Rebounds] On playing the three spot
“I felt kind of good going back to my old position. Then they rotated me to the four. It was a good game. I can play both positions in and out. I love playing both. I like to play all over the floor if my man turns his head I’m gone.”

Chauncey Billups – Guard [10 points, 3 Assists] On being a contender
“You don’t know early in the season that teams are shooting for you. The only way you guard against that is you go out and play hard. Go out and try to earn your spot again. We have raised the bar and you expect to be one of the lead teams. It’s tough to stay up on that level with teams coming for you. I think we have the team to do it.”
On replacement refs
“It was alright. You are also going to notice officials whether they are replacements or not. You are going to hate some of them and like some of them. That is the nature of it. It comes down to their personality.”

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ALL-TIME SERIES NOTES: The Jazz holds a 94-62 all-time series lead against the Nuggets, including a 64-15 advantage at home … Utah has won its last four home games against the Nuggets and split the 2008-09 season series … The Jazz has won 11 of its last 15 meetings with Nuggets … The last time Denver came to Utah, the Jazz won 97-91 as Deron Williams led the team with 25 points … Denver won the last overall meeting between the teams 114-104 as J.R. Smith scored a game-high 28 points.

CONNECTIONS: Nuggets assistant coach Adrian Dantley was a six-time All-Star during his seven seasons with the Jazz (1979-86) … Dantley holds the series scoring record against Denver, putting up 55 for the Jazz vs. the Nuggets, 2/6/81 … Dantley had his #4 retired by the Jazz when the teams met in Salt Lake on 4/11/07 … Current Utah Jazz head scout David Fredman spent six seasons as assistant general manager for the Nuggets (2001-06) after working the previous 27 seasons for the New Orleans/Utah Jazz in PR, broadcasting, scouting and as an assistant coach.

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