The Houston Rockets used balanced scoring to beat the Denver Nuggets, 109-99 on Tuesday night. The red hot Denver nuggets are trying to continue their nice start for the season but it seems like they are now slowing down and other teams are figuring out their flaws and improving after a slow start. One of these teams are the Houston Rockets, they are now winning and they want to be consistent and remain to be the team that almost beat the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference finals.
Game Recap
Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic has been superb for Denver to start the season but Jokic slowed down these past few games. Murray recently scored 48 points but in this game, his scoring was not a huge factor.
In the first period, the Rockets moved the ball well finding open shooters. Their catch and shoot shooters knocked down their shots early in the game to give the Rockets an early edge. PJ Tucker has been a terrific catch and shoot guy for the Rockets as he continuously hits the outside shots when he is wide open. Denver had an answer for the Rockets as Garry Harris drains two consecutive threes to keep them in the game. The first quarter finished as a close one.
In the second, the Nuggets are rolling and getting some momentum to start the quarter but Denver's momentum did not last long as Chris Paul shows his brilliance making some nice dimes and scoring the basket himself. I love seeing the Rockets playing the pick en roll that leads to a Clint Capela dunk from an alley-oop. It seems like Harden, Paul and Capela has mastered it and the opponent couldn't break that play. Denver had a little run in the final minute of the quarter but still, the game is up close.
The James Harden and Clint Capela connection has been outstanding in the third quarter as Harden uses some little screens and some sneaky passes to a Capela dunk. It happened several times and Denver just couldn't do anything about it. I think Denver should switch every time they did it because from what I saw, they always double-team and trap Harden after the screen. That was a huge mistake because Harden is a terrific passer who can see the open guy even with just a little bit space. Rockets took over in the final minutes of the third to command a 10 point lead to end the period.
It's showtime in the fourth quarter as James Harden took over. Houston used more of Harden's isolation plays to lead them in offense. Harden shows some of his step back threes and quick attack to the rim. Jamal Murray answers with his sick handles and sweet shooting. Denver couldn't handle Harden and the Rockets and they couldn't find their offensive flow with Rockets' nice D. Houston's lead increases and they kept it until the buzzer sounds. Rockets win, 109-99.
There's something I observed about Houston's game. I felt like they tend to relax every time they got the lead and their aggressiveness especially in defense tends to slow down a bit. They become more lazy that ends up to an unforced turn over. That is why sometimes the opponent used that chance to get back to the game and even upset the Rockets even if they had a big lead. That is just what I saw from their games at the beginning of the season and I think they manage to improved that so far.
Carmelo Anthony still not present in this game and there's no update about it. let's see if he will still play in a Houston Rockets jersey in his next game in the NBA.
Stats
James Harden - 22 pts, 5 reb, 11 ast, 3 stl, 1 blk
Chris Paul - 21 pts, 5 reb, 4 ast, 2 stl
Clint Capela - 24 pts, 9 reb, 2 ast, 1 blk
Jamal Murray - 15 pts, 1 reb, 5 ast, 1 stl
Gary Harris - 15 pts, 2 reb, 1 ast, 4 stl
Nikola Jokic - 14 pts, 12 reb, 7 ast, 2 stl
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