James Harden and Russell Westbrook combined for 52, but the Houston Rockets failed to score 100 points as a team for the first time in the 2019-20 season and had their eight-game winning streak snapped in Wednesday’s 105-95 loss (box score) in Denver.
Led by 27 points and 12 rebounds from big man Nikola Jokic and 60 paint points by the team as a whole, the Nuggets improved to 10-3 with the victory. The Rockets fell to 11-4 with the loss.
Harden led the Rockets with 27 points on 8-of-16 shooting and 4-of-8 on three-pointers, and he also had seven rebounds and seven assists. However, his eight turnovers led the team’s uncharacteristic 20 giveaways, with the Rockets struggling to counter a unique series of traps and hedges by the Nuggets against Houston ball-handlers.
Example:Nuggets sent defenders early to double on Harden isolation, but it was more so a double-team to occupy space. Primary defender was trying to take away the middle and deny him the step-back right, while the secondary defender took away space for Harden to utilize to create https://t.co/Ip16EVpye9 pic.twitter.com/z3eTsSPpMH
— Alykhan Bijani (@Rockets_Insider) November 21, 2019
Westbrook had 25 points and five assists, but his 2-of-9 (22.2%) showing from three-point range felt appropriate on a night that Houston made just 12-of-38 (31.6%) from behind the arc overall.
Nuggets end the Rockets 8 game winning streak with an impressive 105-95 win. It was a season low in pts for HOU. They only shot 32% from 3, committed 21 TO's & had but one sustained stretch of offensive basketball. Denver dictated pace, tempo and style of play and rightfully won.
— Craig Ackerman (@ca_rockets) November 21, 2019
Clint Capela (12 points, 21 rebounds) extended his streak of consecutive games with at least 20 rebounds to five, tying Elvin Hayes for the longest such streak in Rockets franchise history.
The Detroit Pistons’ Ben Wallace was the last NBA player to record five straight 20-rebound games, having done so in 2003.
#Rockets Clint Capela grabbed his 20th rebound of the game – his 5th straight game with 20 rebounds. Last #Rockets player to do so was Elvin Hayes. Last NBA player to do so was Ben Wallace (March, 2003)
— Adam Wexler (@KPRC2AdamW) November 21, 2019
Outside of Harden, Westbrook, and Capela, no Houston player in Mike D’Antoni‘s rotation scored more than six points for the game. Starting small forward Danuel House Jr. left early with left shoulder soreness after running into the 284-pound Jokic on a screen.
D’Antoni unsure if House’s shoulder popped out during the collision with Jokic. Says they’ll know more tomorrow.
— Kelly Iko (@KellyIkoNBA) November 21, 2019
House does still look to be in a good deal of discomfort. Rockets at Clippers on Friday. https://t.co/Inxh0VrELU
— Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) November 21, 2019
The Rockets return to action Friday night in Los Angeles against Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, and the rest of the star-studded Clippers. The Rockets defeated the Clippers last week in Houston.
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