At 50 feet above sea level, the Houston Rockets look like a basketball team, slowly turning the page and becoming familiar with one another. They put together consecutive wins for the first time in many months versus the Atlanta Hawks and Oklahoma City Thunder.
Elevate them to 5,280 feet, and they appear to be a team is collectively playing together for the first time in a pickup game. The Denver Nuggets defeated the Rockets on Monday and Wednesday nights, and it was a learning lesson that Houston can build on.
One competitive edge the Nuggets have against the Rockets is a veteran team led by two-time NBA MVP (2021, 2022) Nikola Jokić directing the offense. His presence on the court requires a constant double team, as his offensive skillset is among the best in the league regarding scoring and passing. His court vision allows his teammates to continuously move throughout the offense, looking for open shots that usually come around the basket.
In addition to Jokić, the team has two savvy veterans in guard Jamal Murray and forward Aaron Gordon. In those games, they effectively bullied the younger Rockets players while playing their brand of basketball. The combination shot 64.7% from the field.
“It is very difficult, especially against a good veteran team that has been together for a long time,” Rockets head coach Stephen Silas said about competing against the Nuggets. “Their two main guys in Jokić and Murray were the two we had problems with.”
#Rockets got down early against Denver and fall to the Nuggets 120-100
Stephen Silas and KPJ talk the readiness of the team to start the game@HoustonRockets on AT&T SportsNet pic.twitter.com/GxqKnajqtZ
— AT&T SportsNet™ | SW (@ATTSportsNetSW) December 1, 2022
Despite losing twice by an average of 18 points, all was not lost for Houston in their first two games of a four-game road trip. Second-year center Alperen Sengün came into the two-game series knowing he would go up against one of his basketball idols in Jokić. He was looking forward to seeing where his game would match up against the All-Star while seeking tips on where he could improve.
Early foul trouble plagued Sengün in consecutive games as Jokić used his years of experience in the NBA to bait him into unnecessary fouls. With the game out of reach, both players were not matched against one another as much. Sengün averaged 18 points and nine rebounds and was active on both ends of the court against the Nuggets.
“He did a good job,” Silas said of Sengün. “He fought hard on the offensive end and did a lot of good things on the defensive end. “It is just a hard cover because Jokić is crafty, he is big, and when he misses, he gets his own rebound. He makes every play. Al-P (Alperen) tried his hardest and did a good job, but that is the MVP (Jokić) performance that we saw.”
Houston (5-16) now travels from the “Mile High City” to Phoenix, where they will face a Suns (15-6) squad with the top record in the Western Conference. Tipoff is at 8 p.m. Central on Friday.
