James Harden had 28 points and former Nugget Corey Brewer added 24 as the Houston Rockets topped Denver 114-100 Saturday night.
Wilson Chandler had 26 points for the Nuggets in a losing effort.
You got the feeling watching this one that the Nuggets could have taken it, if they got better performances out of Ty Lawson and Kenneth Faried – while Lawson did post a double-double, with 13 points and ten rebounds, he didn’t shoot particularly well, and missed some chances around the rim, though his aggressiveness was nice to witness. Faried had his quietest night since interim coach Melvin Hunt took over, and finished with just four points.
It didn’t help Denver that it was the team’s fourth game in five days, and Danilo Gallinari didn’t look like he had his legs underneath him, a reminder that he’s still not quite back, despite his play lately.
The Nuggets did get a nice game from Randy Foye, who finished with 20 points and seven assists.
Denver got off to a extremely fast start, and it looked like the quick pace of her he game was going to favor the Nuggets at first – especially since the Rockets were being careless with the ball (Denver finished with 16 steals on the night).
But the Rockets pulled away in the second and third quarters behind Harden, who also added 7 assists.
The Nuggets will have Sunday off before welcoming in there New York Knicks Monday. Game time is set for 7 p.m.
Zach Marburger is a staff writer for Mile High Sports. He can be reached via email at zmarburger@milehighsports.com or on Twitter @BurchBurger.
