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Beasley, Craig Put Up Career Highs, Nuggets Down Rockets

The Denver Nuggets did something they had not done in quite some time Friday night. They defeated the Houston Rockets.

Denver overcame a double-digit deficit to down Houston 136-122, earning their first victory against the Rockets in the last 10 meetings between the teams.

Reigning NBA MVP Rockets guard James Harden came out the gates clicking on all cylinders. He scored 15 points during the first quarter in which his team made 8 of 12 3-point attempts and shot 72.7 percent from the field to build an eight-point lead.

Then the Nuggets (36-15) simply turned it up a notch on both ends of the floor.

After falling behind 10 on a layup by Houston guard Eric Gordon 21 seconds into the second quarter, Denver went on a tear, outscoring its opposition by 22 to take an 83-71 lead into the break.

Denver limited Harden, the NBA’s leading scorer, to just 15 points the rest of the way as the Arizona State produced finished with 30 points his lowest offensive output since Dec. 11.

“We tried to give him different matchups,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said of his team’s strategy against Harden. “Whether it’s Malik, whether it’s Torrey or whether it’s Will, switching onto him, it’s a team effort. “When you play good defense on a great player, it takes a team effort and that’s what we had tonight.”

Nuggets center Nikola Jokić, who was tapped to participate in the all-star game for the first time in his career the night before, reminded everyone why he was worthy of the honor. The 7-footer messed around and nearly got his ninth triple-double of the season, scoring 31 points while adding 13 rebounds and nine assists.

Playing without their Opening Night starting backcourt of Jamal Murray and Gary Harris, both of whom sat with injuries, Denver got career scoring nights from third-year guard Malik Beasley and second-year small forward Torrey Craig. Beasley went off, coming a point shy of equaling his previous career high with 22 first-half points. The 6-5, 195-pounder finished the night with 35 points on 12-17 shooting, going 5-9 from 3-point range. Craig tallied a career-best 22 points, knocking down 7 of his 10 field goal attempts but made his biggest contribution on defense where he shouldered the burden of checking Harden 1-on-1 the majority of the game.

“I guess the opportunity presented itself a couple times tonight and I was able to get a couple dunks,” Craig said. “Just running the floor. I was able to get the tip-dunk and my teammates found me.

Nuggets point guard Monte Morris scored 18 points and dished out eight assists in his second-straight start. Paul Millsap and Mason Plumlee both scored 10 points apiece in the win. Houston’s Kenneth Faried, a former Nuggets, scored 23 while Chris Paul (20) and Eric Gordon (17) also finished in double-figures in scoring as the Rockets dropped to 29-22.

“I don’t care who we’re playing, whether it’s a team that’s lost 10 in a row or a team that’s won ten in a row,” Malone said. “We prepare the same and every game we go into, we expect to win. Our homecourt advantage is phenomenal. Because of our fans, it’s on a whole other level this year.”

Denver outrebounded the Nuggets 36-30 and racked up 38 assists to win their fifth-straight.

The Nuggets face the Minnesota Timberwolves on the road Saturday at 7 p.m. MST. That game will be broadcasted live on Altitude TV and streamed on AltitudeNOW.