Nuggets lose 110-100 in Houston as Rockets end their slide in a West contender matchup
Houston beat Denver 110-100 to end a two-game skid. The Nuggets fall to 5-4 and head to Memphis on Wednesday.
The Denver Nuggets came into Houston on a two-game winning streak and left it at 5-4 after a 110-100 loss to the Rockets on Monday night. It was the kind of early-season game that offers a reading on where a team stands against the West's top tier, and for the second time this season Denver came up short.
Houston had a slide of its own to stop. Darren Yuvan's preview for The Dream Shake, SB Nation's Rockets site, which was also carried by Yahoo Sports, billed the game as a meeting of Western Conference contenders and pointed out that the Rockets had lost two in a row. Houston, whose core includes Kevin Durant and Alperen Sengun, stopped that skid with a 10-point win and took the first meeting between the clubs this season.
For Denver, the scoring line fits a pattern. The 100 points matched the Nuggets' second-lowest total of the year. The lowest was 84 in the season-opening 96-84 loss at Oklahoma City, another game against a team expected to contend in the West. In their five wins the Nuggets have scored about 123 points a game, according to ESPN's results. In their four losses that drops to 102. Their defense has been steadier across both columns. Houston's 110 was in line with the 109 Toronto scored and the 118 Portland put up in Denver.
The loss also ended a quick turnaround. After falling 118-110 at home to Portland, Denver beat Toronto 128-109 and Indiana 114-102. Monday's defeat gives the Nuggets alternating results again, which has been their rhythm all season: they have not yet won or lost more than two straight.
What it means for Memphis
Denver goes on to Memphis for a Wednesday, November 11 game against the Grizzlies, its third road date of the season's first ten. The Nuggets are 2-2 away from home so far. They have wins at New Orleans (104-91) and Phoenix (127-120) and losses at Oklahoma City and Houston. At home they are 3-2.
The numbers point to a simple test. Denver has handled most of the teams it was expected to beat. The setbacks have come against Oklahoma City, Golden State (a 134-114 loss at home) and now Houston, plus the Portland loss. In those four losses the offense has stalled well below its usual level. In the wins it has run freely, including a 141-135 shootout against New Orleans.
On the season, Denver has scored 1,022 points and allowed 1,015, a margin of plus-7 over nine games. That is thin for a team with contender expectations. It shows how much the losses have offset a group of comfortable wins. A win in Memphis would put the Nuggets two games over .500 heading into the middle of November and continue the pattern of answering a loss right away. A loss would make it their first two-game skid of the season and leave them at .500 after ten games.
The Nuggets have one day to regroup before the trip to Memphis.