ROCKETS DOMINATE
Denver falls 130-104 in Houston
HOU STON » Michael Malone practically reached midcourt as he called a timeout in disgust. The Nuggets coach hollered at his bench, calling for two-way rookie point guard Monte Morris, along with little-used reserves Juancho Hernangomez and Malik Beasley to enter the game.
James Harden had just easily gotten to the hole for a layup, giving Houston a 28-point lead with 5:06 left in the third quarter. But the swift lineup overhaul did nothing to stop the Rockets’ secondhalf onslaught while rolling to a 130-104 rout Friday night at the Toyota Center.
“We gave them everything,” Malone said of his team’s defense. “If you have any chance of beating this team or being competitive against this team, you’ve got to take something away. I felt like we just defensively did nothing tonight. They got whatever they wanted.”
The loss snapped a three-game winning streak for the Nuggets (2926), who slipped to eighth place in the crowded bottom of the Western Conference playoff standings after the Clippers won at Detroit and New Orleans lost at Philadelphia on Friday. Denver has also dropped seven road games in a row, with its last victory away from the Pepsi Center coming Dec. 23 against the defending champion Warriors.
The Rockets (41-13), who won their seventh consecutive game, dominated the Nuggets in several facets while putting up the largest point total for a Denver opponent this season. The NBA’s leader in 3pointers made went 19-of-41 from long range, while Denver, which is in the top 10, went 3-of-28.
Houston got to the free-throw line 34 times. The Rockets outrebounded the Nuggets 48-39, with 11 of those boards coming on the offensive end. Harden, the MVP front-runner, flirted with a tripledouble with 28 points, seven rebounds and 11 assists, while athletic big man Clint Capela brilliantly complemented inside with 23 points and 25 rebounds as Houston carved up Denver’s defense via the pick-and-roll.
“They’ve got four shooters on the court at all times,” said Nuggets guard Gary Harris, who finished with eight points on 3-of-11 shooting (0-of-7 from 3). “Then they got a dynamic roller in Clint Capela. So it’s just pick your poison, for real.”
Houston never surrendered its double-digit lead after the 2:20 mark of the first quarter. The Rockets blew the game wide open in the third period’s opening minutes, when Harden crossed half court with the ball, shrugged off a bump from Nikola Jokic (14 points, seven rebounds, five assists) and pulled up from beyond the arc to extend their lead to 73-52 at the 9:44 mark.
Defense had been an underlying concern for Malone throughout the past two weeks, when the Nuggets rediscovered their high-powered offensive rhythm while going 6-2 largely against stiff competition.
The Nuggets had no answer against one of the NBA’s most lethal offenses — and a potential first-round playoff opponent — for the second time this season.