The Houston Rockets came out motivated and the Denver Nuggets couldn’t find the keys to the offense as Houston defeated Denver 115-101. It was a chippy game, with a lot of physicality but not too many free throws early – which is one reason Denver’s head coach David Adelman was ejected in the second half and the whistles became much more prevalent. Whether it was the physicality or just an off night, Denver’s stars couldn’t find their normal offensive groove. Nikola Jokic had 25 points on 20 shots, but just 7 rebounds and 5 assists. Jamal Murray was 4-13 from the field for his 16 points along with 7 assists, and Cam Johnson made just 2-of-10 shots. For the Rockets, Kevin Durant went off without Peyton Watson around to defend him, scoring 31 points while Jabari Smith Jr. added 22 and Reed Sheppard had 28 off the bench. Denver couldn’t solve Houston’s defense nor slow their three-point efficacy as the Rockets made 19 threes in the victory.
Game Flow
The Nuggets had a sloppy start, with a couple of turnovers and missed shots while the Rockets hit some pullups and a Durant three. Spencer Jones made an in-close jumper, Jokic missed a three and Jabari Smith Jr. made another three for the Rockets to give Houston an early 10-2 lead. Jamal Murray bricked a deep shot, but an Alperen Sengun turnover gave Denver another chance and Spencer Jones hit a Jokic-assisted finish. Cam Johnson blew an easy transition finish but Jamal got a steal on Sengun that Tim Hardaway Jr. converted for a three. Jabari Smith made a long two but Cam Johnson answered with a three to cut it to 12-10. Denver’s defense had some nice pressure and hands, and Joker hit a pair of paint finishes, but Spencer Jones was called fouling KD on a three-point shot. Jokic missed from deep, but Jones had a great steal and an even better transition finish for a layup. He then initiated a great THJ transition dunk off a rebound. Reed Sheppard made a pair of threes for the Rockets around a Jamal three, then Sheppard hit another out of a timeout. Jokic had to sit with 2 fouls and Denver turned the ball over, Jonas Valanciunas missed a paint shot but got a block on Steven Adams and Spencer Jones buried a corner 3. With Bruce Brown and Big Val in the game Denver’s defense stepped up and a Jamal 3 put Denver up 29-26 after one.
Bruce Brown scored the first bucket of the second quarter in transition, but Denver missed their next three shots. Durant hit from behind the arc, and Valanciunas finally made his first shot of the quarter. Another Durant three, another Valanciunas bucket as Denver did a good job of keeping Houston out of the paint. Cam missed a runner but Big Val cleaned it up. Durant got to the line after a Valanciunas turnover, and Joker came back in with over 7 minutes to go to give Denver the two-center look and with Denver up 37-36. Jokic turned the ball over, Jonas had hit shot blocked, and Josh Okogie made a pair of three-pointers to put Houston up 42-37. After a timeout, Okogie hit yet another three pointer, Jokic made a pair of free throws, but Amen Thompson had a pair of buckets to give the Rockets a 10 point lead. Sengun blocked Jamal’s shot, but the next time down Jamal got to the line after a 15-2 run from Houston. He made both free throws, Sengun hit an easy dunk for Houston, Durant blocked Jokic from behind and Denver’s offensive woes continued. Denver was 4-of-13 in the quarter when Jokic was called for a charge with under 3 minutes to go. Jokic finally finished in the paint, Denver missed another pair of threes from THJ and Spencer Jones, Jokic had a nice bank finish to beat a buzzer and then Houston challenged Jokic drawing a charge call. Luckily the call stood and Jokic didn’t get his fourth foul of the half and Denver went to halftime down 8 to Houston, 53-45.
Jabari Smith hit a 3 for Houston to start the second half, while Jokic and Jamal both had uncalled fouls against them while shooting. Jokic hit a three from the top of the key though, while Smith hit another of his own. Jamal missed a drive, Durant airballed, and Tim Hardaway hit a Murray-assisted 3 for Denver. Sengun dunked for Houston, Jokic put back his own miss on the other end, and KD hit a nice turnaround to keep Denver from making up ground. Jokic picked up his fourth foul and had to sit, while Denver just couldn’t find the range as Murray missed another 3. Valanciunas made a jumper but Smith buried his fourth three-pointer. Hardaway missed a dunk but Cam Johnson made his and completed a three-point play while Denver turned the Rockets over several times but struggled to capitalize on the offensive end. Durant hit a pullup to put Houston up 69-58 as Denver was 5-of-20 to that point in the quarter. Jalen Pickett hit an open three for the Nuggets, then Bruce finished in the paint and had some words with Kevin Durant (with Jamal also having something to say as they were all separated by refs going to a timeout). Big Val hit another Pickett-assisted jumper, Sengun made a baseline finish, and Pickett got to the line to make both free throws and close the gap to 5. Reed Sheppard immediately made a pair of Houston threes, though, and Jamal turned the ball over. Bruce Brown got blocked by Steven Adams, Sheppard got to the line, the buried a three in the final seconds as Houston went on an 11-0 run to end the quarter and led 82-66 after 3.
Jokic finished at the rim to start the fourth, but Durant answered with yet another three. Denver kept missing its own threes, and Houston was getting Denver into foul trouble to start the quarter. Sheppard made free throws, Bruce Brown hit a nice layup, but after another no-call on Jokic getting hacked Denver coach David Adelman got thrown out for yelling at the refs. Jokic got to the line the next time down, Sheppard and Murray exchanged buckets, and Jokic got called for his fifth foul. Murray hit a Jokic-assisted three to made it 93-80 with 7 minutes left and got fouled for the rare four-point play. Amen Thompson hit a hook over Jokic, THJ got called for an offensive foul, and Durant made a three then did a little dance as Houston went back up 17. Jokic hit a driving jumper and a free throw, Jabari Smith again buried a 3, and Kevin Durant made a pair of clear path free throws. Back-to-back dunks by the Rockets put them up 21 at 107-86 and at that point Denver threw in the towel and went to their bench players. Julian Strawther and Hunter Tyson came in as Denver waived the white flag, and after 4 minutes of garbage time – in which Denver’s reserves did play well enough to force the Rockets to put their starters back in – Houston took the victory 115-101.
Final Thoughts
-Denver’s offense is what failed them. The Nuggets clogged the lane and dared Houston to shoot threes, which they did. The difference at the half was simply three-point shooting, but Houston still only had 53 points. Defense wasn’t the issue at that point, the Nuggets simply dared Houston to make deep shots. Houston was 10-for-18 from deep at the half while Denver was 5-for-15. The Nuggets did a bunch of things right but their second quarter offensive execution hurt with just 16 points scored in the quarter. After the half was more of the same. Denver still couldn’t buy a consistent three point shot while the Rockets were unconscious from outside, but Denver couldn’t manufacture points in their usual way and had just 21 in the third. Jokic didn’t have his normal touch, Jamal was very cold through most of three quarters, and the refs let them play which didn’t go Denver’s way. The Rockets played desperate, and Denver’s defense – after holding Houston under 30 points a quarter for the first 3 – couldn’t keep up that pace for the fourth. They needed miraculous stops and couldn’t get them, giving up 25 points in the final frame in just over 7 minutes. Trying to get those kinds of consistent stops without your three best defenders is too tough an ask.
But Denver relies on other teams taking the ball out of the bucket – they have such an efficient offense normally that squads have to go the full length of the court unless Denver turns it over. In this contest, Denver was not scoring with its normal regularity and the Nuggets could not find their rhythm. The Nuggets shot 40% from the field and 28% from deep, while Houston went 51% from the field and 54% from three-point range. Normally they fight fire with more fire, but there was no spark tonight. After batting 1.000 for most of the season, Denver’s offense finally couldn’t find the right formula.
