Denver Nuggets vs. Houston Rockets: The rivalry

The NBA and rivalry with the Denver Nuggets.

The Denver Nuggets (at the time of writing) sit atop the Western Conference with a record of 28 and 12. They also (obviously), sit atop the Golden State Warriors, much like the Houston Rockets did last year.

Someone who has remembered that fact is none other than reigning and current MVP favorite James Harden.

Below, we look at why the rivalry between the Denver Nuggets and the Houston Rockets has recently, just got more intense.

As is well-known, rivalry is a big part of sports. It always has been, always will be.

Whether it is Muhammad Ali, going up against Joe Frazier in the “thriller in Manila”. Larry Bird’s Celtics going up against Magic Johnson’s showtime Lakers. Or, with it being Dominique Wilkins birthday (at the time of writing), the human highlight film going up against Larry Legend himself.

The NBA is one of the fastest growing and most popular sports in the world. Moreover, the NBA at least partially owes its success to the health of rivalry.

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Recently, the dominance of the Warriors, has caused many to question the health of the NBA. However, despite the reservations of some, rivalry is still an inescapable part of sports and the NBA.

Whilst, Jeff Van Gundy for one thinks there are too few ‘nasty rivalries’ in sports and argues that this has been caused by the lack of contact in today’s game.

Rivalry Born From Similar Ambitions

We arguably still live in a culture where winners take all. Sure, NBA champions get a nice, shiny Larry O’ Brien trophy. They also get paid extra financial incentives for winning too.

So while it is easy for NBA fans and savants to argue the NBA is broken because Draymond Green and Kevin Durant are on the Warriors. NBA teams and franchises have a totally different perspective and as we’ve just covered, set of incentives too.

Rivalries can arise for different reasons, ranging from those that are deep-rooted to those that are shallow.

Rivalries can be historical or geographical or whatever, but more often than not rivalries arise from different entities wanting the same thing.

With that being said, there is a new rivalry in the NBA that may be under the radar but nevertheless, is heating up.

The Denver Nuggets and the Houston Rockets are developing are rivalry based on two things. For James Harden and the Houston Rockets, the rivalry is based on the Denver Nuggets having what they want: the number one seed.

"“It feels great and I think we’ve all had that in the back of our mind,” Harden said of the number one seed, which the Rockets attained last season en route to the Western Conference Finals.”"

"“It was just a far reach earlier in the season. Now it’s pretty close. We’ve just got to continue to do what we’ve been doing. Playing well, taking care of opportunities like this. Just continue to get better, strive to get better.”"

The Denver Nuggets, Houston Rockets The NBA’s Latest Rivalry?

From the perspective of the Denver Nuggets the Houston Rockets seem to be their Achilles heel. The kryptonite to the superb season they’ve been having.

Despite being the number one team in the West and having one of the best records in the NBA. For some reason, the Denver Nuggets are yet to beat the Houston Rockets this year. With their last victory against the Rockets dating back to the 14th December 2015. Over two years ago.

Which essentially means one thing, the Denver Nuggets are having a hard time beating Morey-Ball.

Which has clearly been best expressed by Mike D’Antoni’s version of the Houston Rockets.  However, as pointed out in a recent article, Houston has clear weaknesses, that the Denver Nuggets will need to exploit if they are to finally beat the Rockets.

During their last meeting the Nuggets made the fatal mistake of giving Houston the exact type of shots they wanted: 3 pointers and layups/dunks.

Houston shot 50% from the field and 46.8% from 3 the last time these two teams met.

Furthermore, undeniably, James Harden is the Houston Rockets. His NBA-leading usage rate is clear proof of this. Also undeniable, is the fact that Harden is clearly in MVP form with 3 pointers, free throws and assists being his favorite ways of doing damage.

In their last meeting, Harden used his favorite weapons to devastating effect. With James having 6 made threes, going 12 of 15 from the line and recording 14 assists.

With the Western Conference being historically close it is clear that the Houston Rockets may be the Denver Nuggets last remaining obstacle to Denver’s championship aspirations. Given that the Nuggets have already beaten virtually every other champion contender this season.

"“The tightness of the race [in the Western Conference] means that any game between two West teams in the season’s second half is practically a must-win, not only to help your own playoff hopes, but to hurt those of your opponent”."

"“And picking up wins against the few non-playoff contenders in the league — the Atlanta Hawks, Chicago Bulls, New York Knicks, Cleveland Cavaliers and Phoenix Suns — is imperative.”"

To date, the Denver Nuggets have obviously done the latter and for the most part the former too. However, there are a few teams that should still be on the Denver Nuggets’ hit list.

The Milwaukee Bucks for example and perhaps especially (for a lot of the reasons given above) the Houston Rockets. With James having led his team this far, Denver’s best way of protecting their interests lie in learning how to beat Houston.

These two teams are just the latest rivalry to strengthen in the NBA and whilst they are less conspicuous nowadays, pay close attention and you’ll see that they’re still there and almost certainly, always will be.