FIVE THINGS TO WATCH
Will a Porter Jr. get going? 1
Kevin Porter Jr. was certain to go through some rocky times while adjusting to playing the point, but he has not consistently found his shot, either. Even Thursday, when he scored a season-high 20 points after averaging 10.5 in his previous four games, he missed all five of his 3-pointers. He is making 29.8 percent of his 3s and is just 3-of-19 in his past four games.
Denver’s Michael Porter Jr. has struggled with his longrange shooting even more. He missed all three of his 3pointers Wednesday and is 1-for-18 in his past four games. He’s making just 21.7 percent of his 3s and 37.4 percent of his shots overall in a season in which he was expected to fill some of the scoring void left by Jamal Murray’s injury.
Who wins the Gordon competition? 2
The Rockets’ Eric and Nuggets’ Aaron won’t match up often, but they are having similar seasons. Aaron Gordon is making 56 percent of his shots and averaging 12.6 points per game. Eric Gordon is making 49.2 percent of his shots and averaging 14 points per game.
The difference is that Eric Gordon leads the NBA in 3point shooting, making 54.8 percent of his attempts. He has sought to use the Rockets’ spacing to drive to the rim. With him that hot, the Rockets might want to get him more touches, with Gordon taking an average of just 4.4 shots from deep per game, fourth-most among the Rockets.
It’s not how often but how well 3
The Nuggets don’t play at a high pace. They don’t run often. But when they do, they are very good at it. They rank 24th in the NBA in pace but are fourth in fast-break scoring. The Rockets’ give up the most fast-break points per game, mostly because of turnovers but in large part because even when they get back, they don’t match up reliably, which was a problem against the Suns.
Who does Jae’Sean Tate defend? 4
Tate is coming off consecutive phenomenal defensive games, often matching up with LeBron James and Chris Paul. He has found his shot, too. He averaged 17 points on 60.9 percent shooting against the Lakers and Suns after averaging 6.3 points on 32.1 percent shooting in the previous three games. But other than on switches, he would not seem likely to have a lot of possessions guarding center Nikola Jokic, the trigger of the Denver offense.
Who defends Nikola Jokic? 5
For all the hopeful comparisons of the Nuggets’ star and reigning MVP with the Rockets’ teenage rookie big man, it would seem a bit much to ask Alperen Sengun to match up with Jokic. Sengun has shown a good feel and outstanding vision as a passer, and he collected a careerhigh five assists Thursday. Jokic is arguably the best passing center ever.
Christian Wood, who also had a career-high five assists Thursday, could get the assignment on Jokic. But that could take him away from the basket, diminishing some of his strength as a rebounder. (He averages 12.5 to rank fifth in the league.) Daniel Theis has missed the past two games with a sore big toe but could be back in time to take on Jokic.