Ashley Landis/Associated Press
Ashley Landis/Associated Press
Ashley Landis/Associated Press
Ashley Landis/Associated Press
Ashley Landis/Associated Press
Ashley Landis/Associated Press
Ashley Landis/Associated Press
Ashley Landis/Associated Press
Ashley Landis/Associated Press
Ashley Landis/Associated Press
Ashley Landis/Associated Press
Ashley Landis/Associated Press
Ashley Landis/Associated Press
Ashley Landis/Associated Press
Ashley Landis/Associated Press
Ashley Landis/Associated Press
Ashley Landis/Associated Press
Ashley Landis/Associated Press
Ashley Landis/Associated Press
Ashley Landis/Associated Press
Ashley Landis/Associated Press
Ashley Landis/Associated Press
Ashley Landis/Associated Press
Ashley Landis/Associated Press
Ashley Landis/Associated Press
Ashley Landis/Associated Press
Alperen Şengün tallied a triple-double but the Houston Rockets had their win streak snapped at nine games in a 116-111 loss to the Denver Nuggets on Sunday at Toyota Center, trimming the Rockets’ hold on the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference to just one game ahead of the Nuggets.
The Rockets (46-26) are 1-1 against the Nuggets (45-27) this season. The teams play for the last time in the regular-season finale on April 13, the result of which will determine who wins in a tiebreak scenario.
“This is a missed opportunity, for sure,” Rockets head coach Ime Udoka said. “We’ll see them again, obviously. But regardless of the tiebreaker or any of that, the standings and where we’re at right now, how close we all are, it’s definitely a missed opportunity.”
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Denver’s lead got as big as 19 points in the third quarter before Houston rallied to cut it to four points with less than two minutes remaining in the game. The Rockets’ center tandem of Şengün and Steven Adams rebounded like madmen while Rockets guard Jalen Green barreled through the lane like a runaway train and got to the foul line.
But the Rockets couldn’t catch the Nuggets, who ended the game shooting 50.6% and with 20 second-chance points. The Rockets shot 43.8% from the field and 64.7% (22-of-34) at the free-throw line. Denver also led 14-0 in fast-break points.
“We got dominated in those two areas, rebounding and transition, fast break points,” Udoka said. “Areas we expect to do much better in, obviously, but, you know, a poorly played game overall.”
The Nuggets were without star center Nikola Jokić for a fourth straight game. Nuggets coach Michael Malone said pregame that his biggest concern was how Denver would match the rebounding and physicality of Houston, the league’s No. 1 offensive rebounding team.
But despite playing their double-big lineup, the Rockets were outrebounded by seven through the first three quarters and gave up 18 second-chance points before they won the rebounding battle 16-7 in the fourth quarter and ended the game plus-two on the boards, they converted just 3-of-15 second-chance opportunities compared to the Nuggets’ 7-of-13 mark.
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After the game, Şengün seemed surprised to hear that Denver had controlled the boards for most of the game.
“Just one of those games,” Şengün said. “We usually dominate the boards every game. But I guess we just didn’t play hard enough to beat them and then be better on the boards.”
With eight minutes to go in the game, Şengün forced a Nuggets turnover in the paint and Fred VanVleet passed to a rolling Adams for a ferocious dunk that brought the Rockets within nine points. Green drew two fouls and made all his free throws to make it a six-point game a minute later.
After the Nuggets got their lead back to nine, Şengün threw a lob to Amen Thompson for a dunk and then intercepted Denver’s outlet pass and kicked it to Dillon Brooks for a 3 that made it a four-point game, 109-105.
With 21.9 seconds to go, Şengün scored a layup underneath and the Rockets fouled. After the Nuggets made two free throws, Şengün was sent to the line and split a pair of free throws, missing an opportunity to make it a one-possession game. Jamal Murray’s free throws ensured it wouldn’t get that close again.
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“It’s just mental, you know,” Şengün said of making free throws. “I just got to be more focused. We just got to (have) more focus.”
Jokić didn’t play in the last game against Houston, either, a 128-108 Rockets blowout win at Ball Arena in January; however, whereas the Rockets scored 20 points off turnovers in that game, on Sunday they scored just six and struggled to make shots consistently in the halfcourt.
Şengün had 17 points, 10 assists and 14 rebounds. Green went 11-of-14 on free throws and led the Rockets with 30 points while Brooks scored 21. Adams scored 14 points with 12 rebounds off the bench, his fifth double-figure scoring game this season.
Murray led Denver with 39 points, including 17 in the third quarter. DeAndre Jordan had 11 points and a game-high 15 rebounds. Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon scored 13 after he’d averaged 29 points in the last three games played without Jokić.
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Udoka diagnosed the Rockets’ performance in the first half as “sloppy,” the third quarter as “terrible” and the fourth quarter rally as “average.”
Houston was up by nine early before defensive lapses allowed Denver back in the game via the glass and the paint. The first quarter ended tied, as did the second quarter as Adams helped the Rockets catch up on rebounds and Şengün dropped dimes left and right.
The score was tied 57-57 at halftime after both teams shot 51% from the field and were tied in second-chance points.
That changed in the first four-and-a-half minutes of the second half when Denver scored 10 second-chance points and went up by nine.
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Although Thompson scored six points at the rim and the Rockets showed glimpses of momentum, it seemed like the biggest highlights belonged to the Nuggets, from Murray’s shot clock-beating 3 to Jordan’s two-handed reverse dunk.
The Rockets’ deficit only grew as they shot 36% in the third quarter, were outrebounded 16-10 and gave up 12 second-chance points. The Nuggets led 96-79 heading into the fourth, prior to the Rockets’ rally that ultimately fell short.
