Rockets-Nuggets Preview

By MATT BEARDMORE
Posted Apr 14 2012 3:30PM

The Denver Nuggets failed to improve their playoff chances in their last game, but returning home should give them plenty of confidence.

The Houston Rockets might be glad to hit the road after their recent failures.

Denver and Houston begin a crucial home-and-home set Sunday night, when the winner will take over sole possession of seventh place in the Western Conference.

Coming off home wins over Golden State and Minnesota, the Nuggets (32-27) dropped their third in a row on the road Friday, 103-97 to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Denver is still very much in position to make a ninth consecutive playoff appearance, but the team closes with six of seven against teams that have either clinched a playoff spot or have a legitimate chance to do so.

"We need to use these last seven games to build some momentum," said Arron Afflalo, the Nuggets' lone starter to score in double figures Friday with 18. "We've got a tough little schedule ahead of us, and we're looking forward to it."

The Nuggets now try to post a season-best fifth straight home victory. They're 11-5 at the Pepsi Center since Feb. 13, compared to 5-10 on the road.

The Rockets (32-27) have won their last two visits to Denver, including a 99-90 victory Feb. 6.

These teams are tied for the final two playoff spots in the West, and Houston is coming off home losses to the two clubs trying to catch them - Utah and Phoenix.

That pair of defeats came after the Rockets swept a four-game road trip, including victories over league-best Chicago and the Lakers.

"We've been talking about solidifying our home court and taking advantage of it, but these past two games we haven't been doing that," center Marcus Camby told the Rockets' official website Friday after scoring 14 points and grabbing 18 rebounds in a 112-105 loss to the Suns.

"We just keep making the situation tougher for ourselves. So we have to regroup tomorrow, head up to Denver and try to get both of those games."

Before hosting the Nuggets on Monday, the Rockets, who last made the postseason in 2009, will try to extend their season-best road winning streak to five.

Houston hit 29 of 58 from 3-point range in the final three games of the road swing before going 8 for 39 (20.5 percent) in its last two games.

Goran Dragic missed 8 of 9 beyond the arc in that span, but he's averaging 18.7 points and 8.5 assists while starting the last 19 games in place of Kyle Lowry, who has played the last four after missing one month with a bacterial infection.

The Nuggets' point guard duo of Ty Lawson and Andre Miller also could play a huge role in this back-to-back set.

Lawson had 22 points and a career-best 15 assists in a 117-105 win at Houston on March 2, compared to 13 and seven, respectively, in the home loss to the Rockets.

Miller finished with a team-best 20 points, six rebounds and six assists Friday. His teams are 7-0 against Houston over the past eight seasons when he scores more than 15 points, including 16 last month.

Denver forward Danilo Gallinari is averaging 13.3 points in three games since missing 10 with a broken left thumb. He'll face the Rockets for the first time since suffering a left ankle sprain in the third quarter of the Feb. 6 matchup that sidelined him the next 13 games.

Afflalo leads Nuggets past Rockets 101-86

By ARNIE STAPLETON
Posted Apr 16 2012 12:39AM

DENVER (AP) Once the Denver Nuggets started making stops and running the Houston Rockets ragged, it seemed nothing went wrong for them.

A telling sequence came at the start of the fourth quarter when JaVale McGee blocked Chase Budinger's shot, Arron Afflalo saved the ball in front of the Nuggets' bench to Andre Miller, who took one step and threw a three-quarter court alley-oop pass to Corey Brewer for a slam dunk.

That put an exclamation on the Nuggets' 101-86 win Sunday night in the opener of a crucial home-and-home set between playoff hopefuls.

"He's a pretty amazing dude, where he throws the ball, I don't think many people in basketball ever think about doing that," Nuggets coach George Karl said. "And to throw it as far as he throws it on the mark, it's pretty amazing to me."

"He's the best," Brewer concurred. "If you run, Andre's going to get you the ball in the perfect position. All you have to do is go up and dunk. Just like a wide receiver, you just run out there and lay it up."

Or slam it down.

The Nuggets did plenty of both in the second half as they erased a 49-43 halftime deficit thanks to a 37-19 third-quarter spurt.

Afflalo scored 18 of his 20 points in the second half and Ty Lawson also scored 20 with Brewer chipping in 14 points, most on fast breaks that changed the tenor of this game.

The teams play again in Houston on Monday night, and now the pressure is squarely on the Rockets, who have lost three straight and saw their four-game road winning streak snapped.

"They're going to play with an anger and an urgency that their season is in trouble in they lose tomorrow," Karl said. "For us, it's our chance to continue to figure out how to play big-time basketball games and be mature about it and we'll be able to probably adjust some things ourselves."

The teams are clinging to the final two playoff spots in the West, trying to fend off fast-charging Phoenix and Utah.

With the their season-best fifth straight home win, the Nuggets took sole possession of seventh place in the Western Conference, a-half game behind Dallas, which lost in overtime to the Los Angeles Lakers earlier Sunday.

Budinger and Luis Scola each scored 19 to lead the Rockets, who lost to the Suns and Jazz at home in the last week.

The Nuggets opened the fourth quarter with the amazing play in which Miller threw the ball three-quarters of the court for Brewer's slam, one of his season-high 11 assists.

The Nuggets outscored Houston 29-10 on the fastbreak, including 17-3 in the second half, when Houston shot just 32 percent to Denver's 54.

"They `fastbroke' on us off our missed shots. Long rebounds, turnovers and they ran out in that third quarter," Rockets coach Kevin McHale lamented. "It's the same kind of bugaboo, and you just have to get over it."

They've got less than 24 hours.

"We've got to go out and play better tomorrow night," McHale said. "They had 26 points off our turnovers, but it's more than that. When the clock ran down, they turned their defense up a little bit. They got some deflections that they ran out. We had some shots. We missed some shots and it affects us too much."

Budinger said the Rockets know exactly what has to change for them to reverse both team's fortunes Monday night.

"We just need to get back," Budinger said. "This was a good learning lesson for us just because they got so many fastbreak points on us. Coming into tomorrow, we're going to play them again, just knowing how fast they like to play how quick they get the ball up, our ones, twos and threes have to get back and stop their transition because that's where they really killed us tonight."

The key to all those transition buckets was Brewer.

"It's kind of my job on this team - energy. Basically when I come in games, it's pick up the pace and start picking up the ball," he said "Our defense makes our offense better. When we start playing good defense offense becomes easy because we can score a lot of points."

Karl said his team had to treat its final seven games like a playoff series, suggesting they had to win four games at minimum to reach the playoffs for a ninth consecutive season. All but one of their remaining opponents are playoff-caliber teams.

The Rockets, who last made the playoffs in 2009, have a rough road to the postseason themselves. After their back-to-backs against Denver, they play at Dallas, and they've lost six straight to the Mavericks.

Not much went right for the Rockets in the second half Sunday night. Guard Courtney Lee missed a dunk in the third quarter, leading to a 3-pointer by Afflalo at the other end that capped a 14-4 run to open the second half and put Denver ahead 59-53.

Lawson disputed the notion it's inherently hard to beat the same team on back-to-back nights.

"I don't think it's that tough," he said. "And if we just stay focused and stay in the game play, it will be easy for us."

NOTES: Rockets C Marcus Camby, who has been playing through torn ligaments in his left wrist, played eight minutes before leaving with a sore back. He had no points, one rebound and two assists. ... Wilson Chandler returned to the court for Denver after missing eight games with hip and groin injuries. He didn't score in seven minutes of action.

Notebook: Nuggets 101, Rockets 86

Posted Sunday April 15, 2012 11:39PM

By Michael Kelly, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: Arron Afflalo and Ty Lawson scored 20 points each, Corey Brewer had 14 off the bench and the Denver Nuggets moved closer to a spot in the postseason with a 101-86 win over the Houston Rockets on Sunday..

Andre Miller had 11 assists off the bench for the Nuggets, who took a one-game lead on the Rockets for the seventh spot in the Western Conference. Denver also moved to within a half-game of sixth-place Dallas.

Luis Scola and Chase Budinger had 19 points each for the Rockets, who get a chance at revenge when the teams play in Houston on Monday night.

QUOTABLE: "I didn't think we played that well as a team in the first half. We had a lot of turnovers, the game was kind of ugly. Despite that, we were only down six points. Once we started fast breaking, defending better, we were able to open the game at that point."
-- Afflalo, on Denver's second half.

THE STAT: The Nuggets shot 54 percent and held Houston to 32 percent in the second half.

TURNING POINT: With Denver up by three early in the third quarter, Houston's Courtney Lee appeared headed for an easy fast-break layup. Nuggets forward Kenneth Faried never gave up on the play and was rewarded when he blocked Lee's shot. Seconds later, Afflalo hit a 3-pointer to push the lead to 59-53.

QUOTABLE II: "Second half we missed a ton of shots and they ran after it. They got into us and played better. In the second half they dominated the game."
-- Rockets head coach Kevin McHale.

HOT: Budinger had another good shooting night in Denver. The Houston reserve was 5-for-10 on 3-pointers and his hot hand helped the Rockets take a 49-43 lead at the break.

QUOTABLE II: "I like playing in this arena. Their defense likes to rotate, which always left me wide open in the corners. I was able to knock them down tonight."
-- Budinger.

NOT: Nuggets forward Wilson Chandler struggled in his first game after missing seven with a left hip strain. He missed his only two shots and played just seven minutes. Denver head coach George Karl didn't push him, and fortunately for the Nuggets they didn't need Chandler in this one.

GOOD MOVE: Miller scored only six points but was responsible for one of the most exciting plays in the game. After Afflalo saved a ball to Miller, the guard flung a three-quarter court pass to Brewer for an alley-oop dunk and an 82-68 lead a minute into the fourth quarter.

QUOTABLE IV: "He's the best. If you run Andre's going to get you the ball in the perfect position. All you have to do is go up and dunk. Just like a wide receiver, you just run out there and lay it up."
-- Brewer, on Miller's knack for delivering an alley-oop.

BAD MOVE: The Rockets' Marcus Camby left the game in the first quarter with a sore back and didn't return. Without his inside presence the Nuggets drove the lane without fear of the former Defensive Player of the Year erasing points.

ROOKIE WATCH: Faried continues to do the little things that make him an asset on the court. He had 10 points and 11 rebounds for his 10th double-double of the season. He also changed shots and kept balls alive with his quick leaping ability and energy.

NOTABLE: The Nuggets have won a season-high five straight home games. ... Scola and Budinger combined to shoot 52 percent while the rest of the Rockets shot 29 percent. ... The Nuggets outscored Houston 60-26 in points in the paint.

UP NEXT: For the Rockets, Monday vs. Denver, Wednesday @ Dallas, Thursday @ New Orleans. For the Nuggets, Monday @ Houston, Wednesday vs. L.A. Clippers, Saturday @ Phoenix.

• Rockets: Fortson, Simpson, Smith
• Nuggets: Fernandez, Stone

• Rockets: --
• Nuggets: --

• Lead Changes: 3
• Times Tied: 3

• Arena: Pepsi Center, Denver, CO
• Officials: #55 Bill Kennedy, #29 Mark Lindsay, #65 Sean Wright
• Attendance: 17954
• Duration: 2:09