The Houston Rockets faced the Denver Nuggets in unfamiliar territory on Monday. The Rockets entered Monday night’s game on their first two-game losing streak of the season after their 102-99 loss to the Phoenix Suns on Saturday.
In that game, the Rockets struggled from the field as the Suns led by double digits in the first quarter. The Rockets eventually got back in the game and even took a six-point lead at one point in the second half. Still, even a fourth-quarter resurgence from Alperen Sengun,
who struggled the first three quarters, wasn’t enough to keep the Rockets from dropping their second straight game.
Pregame
The Rockets welcomed the Nuggets, who are coming off a win down in Mexico City over the Los Angeles Clippers. The Rockets have been without Steven Adams and Clint Capela for several games and also added Oscar Tshiebwe to their injury report with an illness. That means the Rockets will be without all three of their backup centers, leaving Sengun as the only active center for Monday’s game.
Ime Udoka did mention how both Steven Adams and Clint Capela are targeting the upcoming road trip, specifically the Washington and Miami games, as possible return dates. That would be a welcome sight for a Rockets team that currently ranks 12th in rebounding after being near or at the top every season of Ime Udoka’s Rockets tenure.
Rockets vs Nuggets
The Rockets got off to a fast start, led by Durant, who made his first three shots, including one from beyond the arc. Durant was as aggressive in the first quarter as he has been in several games. The quarter was back and forth, as neither team could get much separation.
The Nuggets started to take advantage of the Rockets’ lack of depth at center as Jokic went to work once Sengun went to the bench. However, the Rockets put together a good finish to the quarter, and a Tari Eason 3-pointer put them up 32-24 at the end of the first quarter. Durant led all scorers with 11 points in the first 12 minutes.
The Rockets carried that momentum into the second quarter, scoring the first 11 points and building a lead of as much as 19. The Rockets played with much more force and composure than in their first half against the Suns. The Rockets had 13 assists out of their first 20 made baskets. The Rockets maintained the lead, taking a 54-40 lead into halftime.
The third quarter saw the Nuggets cut the lead to under double digits early as they started the quarter on fire from the field. The Rockets, meanwhile, saw their shooting fall off a cliff, starting 2-for-14 from the field as the Nuggets came back from an early 18-point deficit to tie the game at 5:02.
That’s when Marcus Smart and Tari Eason entered the game, and the Rockets’ defensive intensity immediately rose. The Rockets strung together good defensive possessions that led to easy baskets and pushed the lead back to nine at 71-62. Despite a rough start to the quarter, the Rockets led 77-68 heading into the fourth quarter.
In the fourth quarter, both teams played at a high level for the first time. On one end, Sengun scored in the paint; on the other, Jamal Murray could not miss from mid-range. The Rockets had a slim six-point lead midway through the fourth quarter.
That’s when Sengun took over: he not only scored in the paint to give the Rockets a 98-90 lead, but he also assisted on the next two baskets, helping the Rockets put the game away with a 110-100 win. The win snapped the Rockets’ first two-game losing streak of the season.
Postgame:
After the game, Ime Udoka, Kevin Durant, and Alperen Sengun spoke to the media. Udoka said the Rockets did a much better job taking care of the basketball and distributing it, and that they finished with 29 assists. SB Nation asked Durant whether it is easier to figure out the defense when he’s initiating the offense.
Sengun helped close out the Nuggets with his own great passing and running the pick-and-roll with Durant. Here are both players praising each other’s games after last night’s win.
The Rockets now begin preparing for their old nemesis, Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors, who come to town Wednesday with an 8-3 record and have won their last eight games.
