Rockets-Nuggets Preview

By KATE HEDLIN
Posted Feb 05 2012 5:22PM

The Denver Nuggets and Houston Rockets are both struggling offensively after putting together impressive runs last month.

The Nuggets will try to avoid losing a season-high third straight when they host the Rockets on Monday night.

After winning six in a row and eight of nine, Denver has dropped four of five, including the last two of a back-to-back-to-back stretch. The Nuggets (15-9) averaged 110.4 points during their excellent nine-game stretch, but have been held under 100 points in three of the five games since.

They are looking to bounce back after a 117-97 loss to Portland on Saturday. Denver trailed by as many as 27 before cutting the lead to three in the third, but Portland went on a 14-2 run to put the game away.

"We just need to start being more physical," said Corey Brewer, who scored 14 points off the bench. "The last couple games we haven't had the physicality we need."

Danilo Gallinari scored 16 of his 20 points in the first half. He's averaging 14.4 points the last five games after averaging 25.5 during the previous four.

Nene has also seen a drop-off over the last several games as he struggles to maintain consistency. He had four points on 1-of-5 shooting Saturday and has scored 24 points in the last three. During Denver's run last month, he averaged 16.4 points while playing in five of those six wins.

After a tough stretch, the Nuggets play their next three at home. They are 7-4 at the Pepsi Center, losing the last two by four points each.

Houston (13-11) is dealing with similar offensive struggles. After averaging 103.3 points during a seven-game winning streak last month, the Rockets have dropped four of seven while getting held to fewer than 100 in three straight.

Luis Scola and Kyle Lowry each scored 24 points Saturday, but Houston fell 100-91 at Minnesota. The Rockets trailed 55-42 at the end of the first half after allowing the Timberwolves to shoot 57.5 percent. They were outrebounded 48-37.

Leading scorer Kevin Martin, who averages 19.9 points, was held to two points on 1-of-10 shooting.

"We just started out with no defensive intensity," coach Kevin McHale told the Rockets' official website. "We can't be a pretty team, we can't be a team that just goes out there and plays easy; we've got to be a team that's going to go out there and fight like we did when we got mad."

Scola and Minnesota's Kevin Love were involved in an altercation when Love stepped on Scola's face and chest after knocking him to the ground on a drive. Love said it was unintentional and a Wolves spokesman said the big man apologized to Scola after.

The incident did spark a late rally by the Rockets. They want to take that intensity into Denver while trying to improve on a 3-8 road record.

"Everybody wants to win, everybody wants to play hard - that's not the question," Scola said. "We just need to find a way to do it because when you do the right thing, everything rolls better and you can see how everything goes better and better and better."

Houston and Denver split their four meetings last season, with the Rockets winning the last two.

Scola leads Rockets past hurting Nuggets 99-90

By ARNIE STAPLETON
Posted Feb 07 2012 1:07AM

DENVER (AP) The Denver Nuggets began the night without three starters and a backup. They ended it by watching rising star forward Danilo Gallinari hobble out of the Pepsi Center on crutches in a walking boot after a dispiriting 99-90 loss to the Houston Rockets.

"Nervous. Nervous that I'm going to be out for a while," Gallinari said of his reaction to getting hurt in the third quarter, when he stepped on a defender and badly twisted his left ankle.

X-rays revealed a chip fracture of the foot.

"I was surprised," said Gallinari, who will get further medical tests Tuesday to confirm the diagnosis.

"Hopefully, I can recover fast," Gallinari said.

Gallinari, who recently signed a four-year, $42 million deal that makes him the cornerstone of Denver's young nucleus, said the doctors and trainers didn't give him any indication about how long he might be sidelined.

"I have some more scans tomorrow and they will tell me more tomorrow," he said as he made his way slowly to the players parking lot.

Luis Scola scored 25 points and Kyle Lowry added 20 for the Rockets, who handed the Nuggets their third straight loss and fifth defeat in six games.

Chase Budinger had 16 points on the strength of five 3-pointers, his last one giving Houston a seven-point lead with a minute left that sealed the Rockets' fourth road win in 12 tries.

Gallinari had 14 points when he went down with 9:38 left in the third quarter. He was replaced by Rudy Fernandez, who also scored 14 points to top Denver's makeshift lineup.

Gallinari hopped downcourt in pain after stepping on Chandler Parsons' foot, twisting his ankle. Parsons was whistled for the shooting foul and Gallinari stayed in, sank both shots but then waved for the Nuggets to take him out as he hobbled back down the court.

"It's tough," teammate Ty Lawson said. "It's just tough to see him go down. He's a tough player, he normally would get back up from that. You know it's serious when he leaves the game."

Added Nuggets power forward Al Harrington: "It's the season, man. It's the season. It ain't going to stop for nobody. If Gallo's out, somebody else has to step up and fill that hole until he gets back."

The Nuggets were already hurting before tip-off.

Post player Nene (left heel), guard Arron Afflalo (left ankle, right big toe) and center Timofey Mozgov (left ankle) were all out Monday night, along with backup forward Corey Brewer following the death of his father.

"Him going out hurts them badly, especially with all the other guys being out," Rockets coach Kevin McHale said of Gallinari going down. "The injury bug has just bit them in the behind and it's hard."

Despite losing all those players and watching Kosta Koufos foul out, the Nuggets were in it until the end.

"If we would have pulled it out, it would have been an incredible win for us," Nuggets coach George Karl said. "But it's still a very disappointing loss. I mean, no one's going to feel sorry for us except ourselves, and if we feel too sorry for ourselves, we're not going to bounce back.

"It's a loss. On our home court. We can't have many more of them. We've already had five now."

Asked if it's becoming clear that the lockout-shortened season is affecting players' health, Karl said: "I don't think there's any question you could study that and analyze it that way. I know my team was tired tonight. There's no question of the residual effect of the three games in a row."

Karl was also disheartened to learn of former Nuggets star Chauncey Billups' injury Monday night. Billups, a Denver native who recently had a monster game in his first trip back to the Pepsi Center since getting caught up in the Carmelo Anthony trade a year ago, sustained a possible left Achilles injury in the Los Angeles Clippers' 107-102 overtime win at Orlando.

"If it's torn," Karl said, "it will probably be difficult for him to come back."

"The season is taking its toll," said Kenneth Faried, who started for Denver along with fellow rookie Julyan Stone.

The Nuggets hung tough despite the spate of injuries. It was 49-all when Gallinari went down and Houston led by a point heading into the fourth quarter.

The Rockets hit six straight 3-pointers in the second half, three by Budinger. After Lowry's 3 made it 94-86, the Nuggets trimmed it to 94-90 but Harrington missed two foul shots with 1:21 left and Budinger sank a 3 at the other end to make it 97-90.

Scola scored seven points during a 17-8 run Houston used to close out the first half and take a 47-45 lead into the break. The Nuggets had to feel fortunate to be so close after missing all nine of their 3-pointers and turning the ball over 13 times to Houston's four.

"I think we lost the game in the first half and not the second half," Karl said.

Overall, they went 3-for-22 from behind the arc and missed 14 of 33 free throws.

"A combination of missed free throws and missed open 3s and 20 turnovers, it's tough to win a game," Karl said.

Especially with Gallinari in the training room.

"He was a threat to us," Scola said. "He went out and they had to show us different looks. It changed the game, yes."

And, depending on the severity of his injury, maybe the Nuggets' season, too.

Notes: Houston C Samuel Dalembert was credited with a steal when the ball bounced off his face in the opening minutes. ... Karl said he hopes to have both Nene and Afflalo back for Wednesday night's game against the Dallas Mavericks. ... Houston's leading scorer, Kevin Martin - held to two points on 1-of-10 shooting in a loss at Minnesota on Saturday - went 1 for 9 against Denver and finished with eight points.

Notebook: Rockets 99, Nuggets 90

Posted Tuesday February 7, 2012 12:52AM

By Michael Kelly, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: Luis Scola had 25 points and eight rebounds, Kyle Lowry had 20 points and six assists and the Houston Rockets beat the Denver Nuggets 99-90 on Monday night.

Chase Budinger chipped in 16 for the Rockets.

Danilo Gallinari led the Nuggets with 14 before leaving in the third quarter with an ankle injury. Al Harrington had 12 points and 15 rebounds and Ty Lawson had 13 points for Denver, which has lost five of six and three straight at home.

QUOTABLE: "It was an interesting game. A lot more games get thrown in the trash like this one will than go to Springfield. They're not looping this game in Springfield I can tell you that. Someone had to win that game and I'm glad it was us."
-- Rockets head coach Kevin McHale, on the chances the game will be chronicled at the Basketball Hall of Fame.

THE STAT: The Nuggets were shorthanded but hurt themselves with some bad offense. They were 19 of 33 from the line, started the game with 11 missed 3-pointers and finished 3-for-22 from behind the arc. They also had 20 turnovers and a season-low 14 assists.

TURNING POINT: With Houston leading by four with 1:21 left, Harrington missed two free throws. The Rockets came down and Budinger drilled his fourth 3-pointer of the second half to make it 97-90 and effectively ending any hopes of a Denver comeback.

QUOTABLE II: "There were some strange things dealt on our end and we fought through a lot of them. If we would have pulled it out it would have been an incredible win for us but it's still a very disappointing loss."
-- Nuggets head coach George Karl.

HOT: The Rockets 3-point shooting in the second half. Early in the third quarter they had missed 9 of 12, but they heated up after that. Goran Dragic got them going with one midway through the third and the Rockets made their last seven 3s of the game. Budinger had three, including one at the third quarter buzzer that gave Houston a 73-71 lead. Lowry's from the top of the circle made it 94-86 with 2:53 left

QUOTABLE III: "We kept on taking our normal shots and we didn't think about how we'd been missing. We came out like we always did and starting hitting shots in the second half.
-- Budinger, on Houston's 3-point shooting.

NOT: The Nuggets from the foul line and from the 3-point line. They were 19 of 33 of free throws and were even more anemic from long range. Denver missed its first 11 shots from behind the arc and was 3-for-22 overall.

GOOD MOVE: With McHale looking for some energy in his lineup he turned to little-used Jeff Adrien. Adrien had played just 46 minutes all season but he responded with nine rebounds and two blocked shots in 16 minutes.

BAD MOVE: The Nuggets, already banged up, lost forward Gallinari when he rolled his left ankle when he stepped on Chandler Parsons' foot early in the third quarter. An X-ray revealed he had a chip fracture of his left foot and will have a CT scan Tuesday.

QUOTABLE IV: "I am worried but injuries happen. I'm not happy it happened to me. I wanted to play and I wanted to win this game more than anything. I'll be out. I'll be out for I don't know how long."
-- Gallinari.

ROOKIE WATCH: With four players out of the lineup to begin the night Karl started two rookies, Kenneth Faried and Julyan Stone. Faried responded with six points and eight rebounds in 18 minutes. He also had four fouls but drew an offensive foul when the game was still close in the third quarter. Stone had four rebounds from the guard position but had just two points and one assist in 20 minutes.

NOTABLE: Scola has scored 25 or more points 24 times in his career and Lowry has eclipsed the 20-point mark 27 times in his career. ... Harrington has four double-doubles this season and 97 in his career.

UP NEXT: For the Rockets, Wednesday @ Portland, Thursday @ Phoenix, Sunday @ Golden State. For the Nuggets, Wednesday vs. Dallas, Thursday vs. Golden State, Saturday @ Indiana.

• Rockets: Morris, Thabeet
• Nuggets: Brewer

• Rockets: --
• Nuggets: --

• Lead Changes: 20
• Times Tied: 8

• Arena: Pepsi Center, Denver, CO
• Officials: #33 Zach Zarba, #40 Leon Wood, #60 James Williams
• Attendance: 14501
• Duration: 2:17