The Houston Rockets fell, 126-111, to the Denver Nuggets on Sunday afternoon. Houston will be the No. 2 seed in the Playoffs starting April 19.
Houston got off to a good start to the first quarter, gaining a small lead. However, Denver started to take control early on and controlled the rest of the period. The Rockets' defense was slow to start the game, leading to the Nuggets' 20-6 run. Denver was playing the passing lanes through Nikola Jokic and Russell Westbrook really well, leading to their 36-23 lead to end the first quarter.
Amen Thompson showed out late in the second quarter for the Rockets when they needed him. Denver controlled most of the second period up until the last five minutes. Thompson and Alperen Sengun took advantage of the loss of weak-side help from the Nuggets' defense. Sengun kept finding Thompson in the lane for a basket, and the sophomore scored six straight points for Houston. This put the Rockets within 10 points, but fouls and turnovers led to points for Denver and they extended their lead by 13 going into halftime.
Denver continued to outplay Houston, outscoring the Rockets 39-17 in the third quarter. Houston playing Steven Adams alongside Sengun was not able to stop Jokic, or stop the Nuggets' ball movement at all.
Ime Udoka subbed in the Rockets bench early on in the fourth quarter, and Jock Landale performed well in his minutes. However, it was not enough to lead any sort of comeback for Houston, as Denver continued to roll. The Rockets bench was able to cut the large deficit down by 10 points, but still were down 20. Reed Sheppard continued to show his impressive court vision with impressive passes, and Aaron Holiday continued his season by hitting some long-distance three-pointers.
The Rockets postseason opponent is still TBD.
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