The Nuggets lost a close one at home.
The Denver Nuggets were defeated in a heart-breaker at home by James Harden and the Houston Rockets. What hurts even more is that Portland won against Atlanta (thanks for nothing Hawks.)
James Harden once again had another monster triple-double in which he put up 40 points for the second consecutive game over the less than stellar Denver defense. Nikola Jokic got into early foul trouble thanks to some terrible officiating and Will Barton had a putrid game and missed what would have been the game winning shot for the Nuggets.
Denver Nuggets
The free throw shooting did not help matters either as Denver missed free throws at crucial points. Houston shot 80% from the charity stripe compared to the Denver’s terrible 50%.
With this loss and the Portland win, the Trail Blazers creep to only 1.5 games back of the final post season spot in the Western Conference.
All I got to say is, seriously Atlanta, I mean my old high school squad could have put up a better battle than that. Being outscored 40-18 in the first quarter just makes you look like a joke.
Anyway, enough of me venting about the Hawks’ pathetic effort.
Nikola Jokic had an “alright,” game, but it certainly wasn’t up to par with his potential. This game showed why the Nuggets need Chandler and Gallinari who are still out with injuries. If they are serious about getting this team to the playoffs, then they are going to have to think about playing through some of their minor injuries here sooner rather than later.
When Jokic is off, Gallinari provides another source of scoring. The Nuggets were missing that link in this loss. Chandler could have possibly helped on the defensive front a bit and utilized his versatility to catch the Rockets off guard.
Oh, and for the love of God, why the hell is Darrell Arthur out because of rest?! This is do or die time for Denver. We are not Cleveland who can afford to sit players because they need to “rest.” We need everyone to step up for this playoff push. Arthur, while a veteran, should not be “resting,” at this crucial point in the season.
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We are going to need every single player to produce if we are to still make the playoffs.