Nuggets-Rockets Preview

By SANTOSH VENKATARAMAN
Posted Apr 16 2012 12:48AM

Ty Lawson thinks the Denver Nuggets can easily sweep their home-and-home set with the Houston Rockets. Coach George Karl just wants his team to show maturity.

The Nuggets can move two games ahead of the Rockets in the Western Conference standings when these teams conclude their home-and-home Monday night in Houston.

Denver (33-27) won 101-86 at home over Houston on Sunday, moving one game ahead of the Rockets for the West's seventh seed. The eighth-place Rockets (32-28) are one game in front of Phoenix for the conference's last postseason spot.

Lawson and Arron Afflalo each scored 20 points and helped push the pace along with Andre Miller (11 assists) to give Denver a 29-10 advantage in fast-break points. Lawson figures it won't be hard to duplicate that performance.

"I don't think it's that tough," he said. "And if we just stay focused and stay in the game plan, it will be easy for us."

Karl offered a more measured assessment with his club in position to clinch the tiebreaker by beating the Rockets for the third time in four tries. Denver has lost three straight on the road.

"They're going to play with an anger and an urgency that their season is in trouble if they lose (Monday)," Karl said. "For us, it's our chance to continue to figure out how to play big-time basketball games and be mature about it and we'll be able to probably adjust some things ourselves."

The second half proved decisive Sunday as Denver rallied from a six-point deficit at the break. The Nuggets shot 54 percent after halftime, had a 17-3 edge in fast-break points and limited the Rockets to 32 percent from the field.

"They `fastbroke' on us off our missed shots. Long rebounds, turnovers and they ran out in that third quarter," Rockets coach Kevin McHale said. "It's the same kind of bugaboo, and you just have to get over it."

Losers of three straight overall, the Rockets are also seeking to avoid losing four in a row at home for the first time since Jan. 5-14, 2011.

"We've got to go out and play better (Monday) night," McHale said. "They had 26 points off our turnovers, but it's more than that. When the clock ran down, they turned their defense up a little bit."

Chase Budinger and Luis Scola each scored 19 points to lead the Rockets, who feel the solution to solving the Nuggets isn't complex.

"We just need to get back," Budinger said. "This was a good learning lesson for us just because they got so many fastbreak points on us. Coming into (Monday), we're going to play them again, just knowing how fast they like to play how quick they get the ball up, our ones, twos and threes have to get back and stop their transition because that's where they really killed us (Sunday)."

Corey Brewer scored 14 points off the bench Sunday for Denver. He had 15 points in the Nuggets' 117-105 win in Houston on March 2.

"It's kind of my job on this team - energy. Basically when I come in games, it's pick up the pace and start picking up the ball," Brewer said.

Afflalo, Lawson lead Nuggets to key win in Houston

By CHRIS DUNCAN
Posted Apr 17 2012 1:07AM

HOUSTON (AP) The Denver Nuggets are already in playoff mode, even though they're still fighting for a postseason berth.

Arron Afflalo scored 26 points, Ty Lawson had 25 and the Nuggets continued their push up the standings with a 105-102 victory over the fading Houston Rockets on Monday night.

Al Harrington added 15 points and Andre Miller had 13 assists for the Nuggets, who swept back-to-back games with the Rockets, the team that was directly behind them in the Western Conference.

"Our awareness of where we are in the season is really starting to heighten now," said Afflalo, who went 10 for 16 from the field. "Before, we used to go out there and compete and play the games. Now, we have an ulterior motive almost, in terms of understanding playoff positioning. That's good for a young team."

Denver began the night holding the No. 7 spot in the West, one game ahead of the Rockets. The Nuggets have won four of their last five, and snapped a three-game road losing streak.

"We had opportunities to give up on the game and we didn't do it," Denver coach George Karl said. "It's a huge win for us."

Houston, meanwhile, was only one game ahead of Phoenix and 1 1/2 games ahead of Utah, who were both playing later Monday.

Goran Dragic and Chandler Parsons scored 21 points apiece for the Rockets, who have dropped four straight after a four-game road winning streak.

"We were right there," Dragic said. "We knew we had to get that game if we want to win a tiebreaker against Denver. We cannot think backwards, we have to think forward."

The Rockets play at Dallas on Wednesday night, a virtual must-win game if they want to keep their playoff hopes alive.

"We were sitting good a few games ago, and now we're not sitting so good," Houston coach Kevin McHale said. "We've just got to go in and take care of ourselves."

Denver led 75-74 after three quarters, and the fourth was tight all the way to the end.

The Nuggets took a 99-98 lead into the final 2 minutes, and Afflalo found Harrington with a wraparound pass for an easy layup with 1:19 left to make it 101-98. Parsons rattled in a jumper from the free-throw line, but with all the Nuggets standing on the sideline, Lawson hit a 3-pointer from the corner with 45 seconds left to silence the noisy crowd.

"We could've easily come in here and settled (for a loss)," Miller said. "It definitely showed some character, coming in here (and winning), especially against a team that's fighting for a playoff spot."

Patrick Patterson hit a short jumper, and Luis Scola had a chance to tie it, but his runner in the lane rattled out with 6 seconds left. Afflalo, a 79 percent free-throw shooter, split two free throws with 3.9 seconds remaining, giving the Rockets a chance to tie it.

But Parsons' desperation 3-pointer hit off the front of the rim, and Denver sent Houston to its fourth straight home loss, a season high.

"We can't afford to play like this," Parsons said. "We're letting it slip away."

Corey Brewer scored all 11 of his points in the fourth quarter, and the Nuggets finished 9 for 18 from 3-point range to win in Houston for the first time since October 2010.

"We just played hard to the end," Brewer said, "and we were able to get one."

Houston shot well at the start, led by as many as 11 in the first half and was up 51-44 at halftime.

The Nuggets made 9 of their first 14 shots out of the break. Harrington made two 3s, and Afflalo scored in the lane to put Denver up 67-66. Courtney Lee swept in for a layup, and Houston moved back in front with 3:49 left in the quarter.

The teams swapped the lead five more times in the quarter, and Denver took a one-point lead to the final 12 minutes. The lead changed hands 16 times in all before the Nuggets finally put it away.

"Our mental toughness was pretty good," Afflalo said. "They gave us some tough hits. Every time we fought back, they would make plays."

Notes: Rockets C Samuel Dalembert started for Camby and blocked seven shots, a season high. ... Scola had 14 points and 13 rebounds for his 100th career double-double. ... The Rockets went 8 for 29 from 3-point range (28 percent). ... Houston matched its season-high scoring total in a first quarter (32). ... Miller had at least 10 assists for the 15th time this season. ... The Nuggets have rallied from double-digit deficits to win 10 games this season. ... Karl is guaranteed to finish with a winning record for the 20th straight season.

Notebook: Nuggets 105, Rockets 102

Posted Tuesday April 17, 2012 12:00AM

By Matt Miller, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: The Denver Nuggets became latest team to boost its postseason outlook with a road victory over the slumping Houston Rockets.

Arron Afflalo scored 26 points on 10-for-16 shooting to go with five assists, and Ty Lawson added 25 points and four rebounds as the Nuggets defeated the Rockets 105-102 on Monday at Toyota Center. With the victory, Denver (34-27) remained tied with Dallas in the loss column for sixth place in the Western Conference while building a two-game cushion in the loss column over Houston and Phoenix.

Rookie Chandler Parsons poured in a season-high-tying 21 points and collected three steals to lead Houston (32-29), which has lost four consecutive games overall and four straight at home to slip into a deadlock with Phoenix for eighth in the West. Goran Dragic chipped in with 21 points and seven assists for the Rockets, who also lost to Denver on Sunday in Colorado.

QUOTABLE: "We could have came in here and settled [for a split in the home-and-home series]. ... It definitely showed some character coming in here with this effort, and it's tough beating a team that's fighting for a playoff spot in back-to-back games."
-- Nuggets guard Andre Miller.

THE STAT: The Nuggets turned it around after shooting just 12-for-30 (40.0 percent) in the paint in the first half, connecting on 13-of-21 shot attempts (61.9 percent) in the paint during the second half.

TURNING POINT: After Parsons nailed a mid-range jumper to cut the Nuggets' lead to 101-100, Lawson answered with a corner 3-pointer to push Denver's advantage to four. Houston made another shot before Al Harrington bricked a wide-open corner trey, but Luis Scola's potential game-tying shot off a post-up on Harrington did not fall.

QUOTABLE II: "This [loss] does [hurt] because we had the lead throughout most of the game, and a couple of mental breakdowns at the end is what cost us. ... It's frustrating. We were clicking. We were winning. We won those four games [on the road], then we come back here and we lose four games at home."
-- Rockets guard Courtney Lee on the losing streak, which has taken away Houston's ability to control its playoff destiny.

HOT: Afflalo averaged 23.0 points on 19-for-31 (61.3 percent) shooting during the home-and-home series with the Rockets. He has netted at least 21 points in five of nine games this April.

NOT: Rockets forward Patrick Patterson, who has been up and down with his shot all season, has hit another offensive slump. The second-year forward has averaged only 5.3 points on 7-for-23 (30.4 percent) shooting and 2.7 turnovers over the last three games.

GOOD MOVE: After outscoring Houston 60-26 in the paint during Sunday's win, Denver knew the Rockets' defense would be sagging toward the rim for much of the game. With crisp ball movement against sloppy defensive rotations, the Nuggets found themselves open on the perimeter throughout the game. Denver drilled nine of 18 attempts (50.0 percent) from behind the arc.

BAD MOVE: Houston center Samuel Dalembert protected the rim valiantly with a season-best seven blocked shots in the first three quarters. But head coach Kevin McHale opted for smaller lineups in the fourth period, providing the Nuggets with the opportunity to shoot a high percentage inside.

QUOTABLE III: "Dalembert was the dominant personality. ... His blocks caused a lot of bad offense, which was created by his presence."
-- Denver head coach George Karl on Dalembert's effect on the Nuggets' offense.

NOTABLE: Rockets center Marcus Camby (sore lower back) sat out for the first time since he was traded to Houston, while Denver played without forward Wilson Chandler (strained left hip) for the eighth time in the last nine games. Both players are listed as day-to-day moving forward. ... Scola finished with 14 points and 13 rebounds to record his 100th career double-double. The Rockets' four-game home losing streak is their longest of the season at Toyota Center. ... The Rockets have lost three consecutive games decided by four points or less. ... Denver's Corey Brewer netted 11 points on 4-for-4 shooting in the fourth period. ...The Nuggets trailed at halftime in each game of their home-and-home sweep of the Rockets. ... Houston matched a season high with 32 points first-quarter points. ... Denver improved to 10-1 this season when Kenneth Faried blocks at least two shots. ... The Nuggets improved to 30-3 when leading after three quarters. ... Miller, who dished out a season-high 13 assists, has come off the bench and handed out at least six assists in five consecutive games. ... Houston blocked a season-high 11 shots.

UP NEXT: For the Nuggets, Wednesday vs. L.A. Clippers, Saturday @ Phoenix (ESPN), Sunday vs. Orlando. For the Rockets, Wednesday @ Dallas, Thursday @ New Orleans, Saturday vs. Golden State.

• Nuggets: Chandler, Fernandez
• Rockets: Fortson, Simpson, Smith

• Nuggets: --
• Rockets: --

• Lead Changes: 16
• Times Tied: 9

• Arena: Toyota Center, Houston, TX
• Officials: #14 Ed Malloy, #47 Bennie Adams, #31 Scott Wall
• Attendance: 15988
• Duration: 2:15