There were jams, and there has been a downpour of 3-pointers.
But rather than coming out of a Houston side that has tormented Denver the past couple of decades, it had been the Nuggets who flipped the script.
Underneath newly-crowned All-Star Nikola Jokic and career-high nights in Malik Beasley and Torrey Craig, the Nuggets snapped their nine-game losing streak to the Rockets having a critical 136-122 win.
Jokic, called to his earliest All-Star staff on Thursday night, had 31 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists as the Nuggets increased to 36-15 general and 23-4 at the Pepsi Center. This homecourt advantage will become increasingly valuable as the Nuggets inch toward the postseason.
Friday’s offensive arenas were the outcomes of performances from Beasley and Craig. Beasley was a revelation, shooting 52 percent from 3-point scope as a starter and averaging 15 points. He scored 35 points on 12 of 17 shooting Friday night.
Along with Craig’s protection was valuable, but it’s been his hustle and his enhanced shooting that’s left him even more of the asset as the Nuggets browse their injury-plagued year old. Craig scored 22 on 8.
Both more than stuffed in with Denver’s starting backcourt of Jamal Murray (ankle) and Gary Harris (abductor strain) out because of injury.
The Nuggets shot at out lights as a group. Additionally they dominated in transition, outscoring the Rockets 24-8 in this respect.
Nuggets coach Michael Malone revealed his defensive game plan against reigning MVP James Harden, but planning for him and implementing against him are two different things. Harden hit on a to extend his 30-plus points streak.
“You can’t even give James one look for 48 minutes. He is an excellent player, he’s an MVP for a reason, so we have to offer him different looks, if you blitz him at times, you play him straight up, you struck him in the backcourt receive the ball out of his hands. … Sometimes once you get the ball out of a great player’s hands, you have to live with the results. ”
Former Nuggets ahead Kenneth Faried returned into the Pepsi Center Friday night after he had been jettisoned out of Denver in an offseason trade with Brooklyn. He had been bought out by the Nets in January before joining the Rockets and instantly made an impact in their frontcourt. Motivated out of his departure, Faried dropped 23 points but had been on the end of a ruthless block by Nuggets veteran Paul Millsap.
Included in Harden’s ridiculous series, he averaged an eye-popping 43.6 points on more than 16 3-point efforts per game in January. The Nuggets had reason to both dread and strategize for everything Harden brings to the table.
“You may ’t even defend it, you are able to ’t even defend it,” Nuggets wing Will Barton explained. “You can’t even defend. And that’s ability. I mean that he ’s enjoying I play in the Summer Leagues, where I can just shoot any shot I need out of anywhere, nobody’s likely to say nothing more to me, and if you add that together with how great he’s, you can’t stop this. ”
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Technically, Friday was just another game on the docket that is regular-season. But matches against playoff opponents, especially ones the Nuggets have fought against, always mean more let on.
The first half has been a masterclass in execution for the Nuggets. Harden was almost indefensible and scored 18 points, but Denver chased down loose balls, hustled for rebounds and completed off plenty of transition opportunities as it built a resounding 83-71 lead.
Beasley got the start and was catastrophic and out of the 3-point arc. He sunk his 3-point efforts as a portion of a 22-point first-half outburst. The Nuggets shot at 80% in the quarter that was 48-point, turning five Houston turnovers into 10 points.
As momentum-swinging as a number of Beasley’s dunks Craig given the highlight of this game and maybe the year. He ripped away in the corner and slammed a left-handed put-back dip that lit a fuse beneath the Pepsi Center audience.
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