Despite a heroic performance from Malik Beasley, the Denver Nuggets came up short against the Houston Rockets in their first Summer League game.
The game in Las Vegas between the Nuggets and Rockets was looking like a blow out in the first minutes. However, the second half came and Denver was able to put up a fight.
In a game that was filled with turnovers on both sides (Denver committed 21 compared to Houston’s 18), Houston was able to hang on by the skin of their teeth by a final score of 102-99. Both teams had their share of stand outs and disappointments.
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Troy Williams led the way for Houston with 29 points and did a great job of displaying his athleticism by kick starting the fast break multiple times. Zhou Qi has big shoes to fill as many Rocket fans hope he is the next coming of Yao Ming. Well, he did a solid job in this game pouring in 17 points on 53.8% shooting and even stretched the defense at one time hitting one three pointer.
Sadly for the Nuggets, these two performances were enough to push the Rockets over the Nuggets. For Denver, the story of the night was Malik Beasley.
He shined with 29 points and grabbed 6 rebounds. He even showcased his defensive potential with an impressive block and another one that was called a foul when it was clearly a clean block.
Juancho Hernangomez struggled early, but eventually got into a bit of a rhythm in the second half and hit a couple of key three pointers. He ended the game with 21 points on 40% shooting. The one player who was relatively disappointing was Petr Cornelie. He had a hard time protecting the rim and finished the game with a horrible box plus/minus of -16.
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It was a good showing in a high scoring affair, but the Nuggets need to regroup before their next Summer League game. Otherwise, it will be another heart breaker for them.