Nuggets-Rockets Preview

By SANTOSH VENKATARAMAN
Posted Nov 07 2012 1:26AM

James Harden and Andre Iguodala became good friends this summer on the U.S. Olympic team.

They are on new teams this season and Iguodala will likely be tasked with trying to slow down the league's leading scorer Wednesday night when his Denver Nuggets visit Harden's Houston Rockets.

Harden and Iguodala bonded during the London Games, with neither seeing much action for coach Mike Krzyzewski's gold medal-winning team.

"We had a great summer together and one of my good friends, excited to play against him," Harden said. "Obviously he's on a new team as well."

Now they will meet as starters for the first time. Iguodala will put his reputation as one of the league's best defenders on the line against the red-hot Harden, averaging 35.3 points.

"He does similar to the things I can do as far as making plays for his team, kind of an all-around player," Harden said. "It's going to be a tough matchup for me but this is what the NBA is all about."

Iguodala isn't expected to shoulder as much of the scoring load in his transition with Denver (1-3), although his offensive numbers have been on the upswing. The veteran totaled 20 points on 8-of-23 shooting in his first two games with the Nuggets before scoring 39 over his next two.

He led six Nuggets in double figures with 17 points and added 10 rebounds in Tuesday's home opener, a 109-97 victory over Detroit.

"He was a presence everywhere, on every part of the court," forward Danilo Gallinari said. "He's great for us when he plays like that."

Iguodala is well aware of how his friend has fared with the new-look Rockets (2-1).

"James Harden has started off well," Iguodala said. "Jeremy Lin is playing well."

As a reserve with Oklahoma City, Harden averaged 12.0 points on 45.5 percent shooting in four games - all Thunder wins - against Philadelphia teams with Iguodala in the lineup.

Harden has become one of the biggest stories in the NBA with his spectacular scoring output after being traded. His worst effort was his 24 points in Saturday's 95-85 overtime loss to Portland in the Rockets' home opener.

Houston coach Kevin McHale spent part of Tuesday's practice installing new offensive sets since he hasn't had much time to implement his new star into the Rockets' system.

"We're going to go a different way because his talent dictates that but also we have to get him also moving towards us so we have a flow, a combination of both," McHale said.

Both teams have excelled on the glass. Denver has outrebounded three of its first four foes, posting a 52-35 advantage Tuesday, and Houston has outrebounded every opponent.

The Nuggets didn't see Lin last season when the point guard enjoyed his breakout stretch with New York. Lin, averaging 15.3 points and 7.3 assists, is also looking forward to the matchup between Harden and Iguodala, although he feels it won't be decisive.

"He's a heckuva defensive player so he's probably going to be guarding our heckuva offensive player, so that'll be exciting but at the end of the day it's a team thing," Lin said.

Nuggets slow Harden in 93-87 win over Rockets

By KRISTIE RIEKEN
Posted Nov 08 2012 2:54AM

HOUSTON (AP) If there's one player who never has to be reminded of the importance of rebounding, it's Denver's Kenneth Faried.

That was clear on Wednesday night.

Ty Lawson scored 21 points and Faried had 16 points and 16 rebounds to help the Nuggets to a 93-87 victory over the Houston Rockets.

Faried, a second-year player who holds the NCAA modern-era record for rebounds with 1,673 in his college career, had three in the last minute to hold off a late surge from Houston.

"I just felt the whole game that Kenneth had the spirit that he was going to win this game tonight," Denver coach George Karl said. "He was pretty incredible."

James Harden had a tough night for the Rockets and finished with a season-low 15 points on 5 of 15 shooting.

Harden bulled into the lane for a layup to cut Denver's lead to five with just less than four minutes remaining. But Danilo Gallinari tipped in a missed free throw before a rim-rattling alley-oop dunk by Faried pushed the lead to 89-80.

A pair of free throws by Jeremy Lin cut it to 91-87 with 1:21 remaining. Lin got knocked in the nose on the foul and was bleeding. He had to shoot the free throws with paper stuffed in his left nostril.

Faried blocked a layup attempt by Harden and Chandler Parsons missed a 3-pointer seconds later.

Faried got the rebound on the miss and dunked it on the other end to secure the win.

"The block, his offensive rebounding, his energy - I thought he was probably the most energized guy on the court," Karl said.

Faried, who finished with nine offensive rebounds, said those rebounds were most important when the Nuggets struggled to hit shots late.

"I think it has a lot to do with what we do in practice," he said of offensive rebounding. "Extra possessions are really important in this league and we got a lot of them tonight."

Harden, Houston's newest acquisition, was held in check for most of the night and entered the fourth quarter 2 of 9 with just seven points. Traded from Oklahoma City on Oct. 27 and signed to a five-year, $80 million contract extension a few days later, he was named the Western Conference player of the week after scoring 106 points in his first three games.

"Right now we're in a little bit of a funk," Houston coach Kevin McHale said. "The game right now feels hard ... it doesn't feel like it's rolling and flowing, and we've got to get rolling and flowing and then good things will happen."

Harden believes Houston's struggles come from his joining the team so recently.

"As the games go on, we'll get better," he said. "We haven't played together. We didn't have a training camp or have time to really put in some sets, so we're kind of just figuring things out as we go."

Denver double-teamed Harden some, but the main task of guarding him fell to Andre Iguodala.

"He's such an explosive scorer the way he attacks," Iguodala said. "You really have to be alert at all times. The biggest thing is just being proactive and not reactive to what he's about to do."

The Nuggets led by four in the fourth quarter and used a 7-2 spurt, capped by an alley-oop dunk by Faried to make the lead 78-69 with about nine minutes remaining.

Houston finally got its offense going after a tough-shooting first half and went on a 20-7 run to open the third quarter and cut the lead to 63-61 with just under three minutes left in the quarter. Patrick Patterson led the charge in that span, scoring 12 points.

Patterson had a chance to tie it with about two minutes left, but he badly missed a jump shot.

Patterson finished with 18 points and Carlos Delfino had 19. Omer Asik added 10 points and 13 rebounds for Houston, and Lin had six points, six assists and a career-high six steals.

Gallinari hit a 3 for the Nuggets before they made four straight free throws to push the lead to eight. Delfino's 3-pointer left Houston down 69-64 entering the fourth quarter.

Asik got hit in the face grabbing a rebound in the third quarter and received four stitches on the side of his left eye. He tried to remain in the game after taking the hit, but officials called a timeout because of the bleeding. They weren't able to stop the bleeding on the court so Asik headed to the locker room.

He returned to the start of the fourth quarter.

The Nuggets led by seven after one quarter. Parsons and Delfino made back-to-back 3-pointers for Houston to cut the lead to 25-24 to start the second.

Denver was up by two points midway through the quarter before using a 21-6 run to extend the lead to 54-39 about 2 1/2 minutes before halftime. Lawson had 14 points including a pair of 3-pointers in that span. Houston missed nine shots, including three layups during Denver's run.

NOTES: Asik has had at least 10 rebounds in three straight games. ... Iguodala had 13 points and three steals. ... Harden tied a career high with five steals.

Notebook: Nuggets 93, Rockets 87

Matt Miller, for NBA.com
Posted Thu Nov 08, 2012 12:49 AM - Updated Thu Nov 08, 2012 12:49 AM

THE FACTS: At times, it seemed neither the Denver Nuggets nor the Houston Rockets would be able to get out of their own way and earn a victory. Denver, however, managed to shake off the miscues and execute long enough for the Rockets to complete their self-destruction.

Ty Lawson scored 21 points and dished out eight assists, and Kenneth Faried added a double-double of 16 points and 16 rebounds as the Nuggets overcame poor free-throw shooting (57.1 percent) and 22 turnovers to hold off Houston for a 93-87 victory Wednesday at Toyota Center. Corey Brewer (14 points) and JaVale McGee (12 points, six boards) combined for 26 points off the bench for Denver (2-3), which earned its first road win of the season and second straight victory overall.

Carlos Delfino netted 19 points on 6-for-14 shooting and snatched five rebounds off the bench to pace the Rockets (2-2), who fell to 0-2 at home this season. Patrick Patterson added 18 points and five boards, while James Harden was held to 15 points on 5-for-15 shooting.

QUOTABLE: "We're not cutting. The ball's sticking. There is a lot of stuff we've got to correct. ... It's self-inflicting gunshot wounds for us right now. We just keep on doing the same things."

-- Coach Kevin McHale on Houston's helter-skelter play

THE STAT: New players aside, the Rockets' offense has been a far cry from efficient over the last three games. Houston has turned it over an average of 19.7 times and shot 38.1 percent (103-for-270) from the field during this period.

TURNING POINT: Delfino drained a 3-pointer, and Harden scored in transition on back-to-back possessions to bring the Rockets within 89-85 with two minutes left in the fourth quarter. But Harden failed to maintain solid footing while driving to the rim on the next Houston possession, causing him to miss a layup. Andre Miller grabbed the rebound and threaded a pass down the court to Iguodala, whose comeback-ending dunk stretched Denver's lead to 91-85. Faried threw in an intimidating swat of a Harden shot attempt shortly after, placing an exclamation point on the Nuggets' big night defensively against the reigning Western Conference Player of the Week.

QUOTABLE II: "We had some frustrating periods and made some mistakes. ... I did miss a couple of layups, which was tough on me, and I was kind of getting down on myself. But everybody had faith. My coaches had faith. My teammates had faith. ... I got to be that guy to energize the team."

-- Faried on what helped he and his teammates overcome the lackluster play that allowed the Rockets to remain within striking distance

NOT: Nuggets forward Danilo Gallinari could not shake his early-season shooting slump against the Rockets, finishing 6-for-15 from the field. Gallinari is shooting an uncharacteristic 29.8 percent (17-for-57) overall through four games this season.

GOOD MOVE: Houston's defensive adjustments at halftime, mainly putting more pressure on Lawson, knocked the high-octane Nuggets' offense off-balance in the third quarter. Denver, which built a 15-point lead during the second period thanks to the speedster's work in transition, saw its advantage drop to 65-63 after missing 10 of 11 shots and committing nine turnovers over the first 10 minutes of the second half.

BAD MOVE: The Rockets, who entered Wednesday's contest shooting 27.4 percent from behind the arc for the season, continue to be convinced that they are a good 3-point shooting team that can work its way out of the perceived funk. Houston made only eight of 23 (24.2 percent) attempts from long range against Denver, providing further proof that it needs to look for more scoring inside of 25 feet.

NOTABLE: The Nuggets played without reserve forward Wilson Chandler (rest). ... Rockets center Omer Asik left the game briefly during the third period to receive four stitches for a cut above his left eye. Despite missing nearly a quarter to deal with the cut, Asik (10 points, 13 rebounds) recorded his second career double-double. ... Houston was outrebounded and grabbed less than 50 boards for the first time this season. ... Led by Jeremy Lin's career-high six steals, the Rockets collected a season-best 15 steals.

UP NEXT: For the Nuggets, Friday vs. Utah, Saturday @ Golden State, Monday @ Phoenix. For the Rockets, Friday @ Memphis, Saturday vs. Detroit, Monday vs. Miami.

• Nuggets: Chandler, Stone
• Rockets: Machado, White

• Nuggets: Faried, Gallinari
• Rockets: Morris

• Lead Changes: 6
• Times Tied: 3

• Arena: Toyota Center, Houston, TX
• Officials: #17 Joe Crawford, #16 David Guthrie, #75 Eric Dalen
• Attendance: 13372
• Duration: 2:11