Rockets smoked by Nuggets 120-100

The Houston Rockets have been making some progress as a team of late, but they laid a big, fat egg on Wednesday night in their rematch against the Denver Nuggets, falling 120-100 in a game that was pretty much over at halftime.

The Rockets were punched in the mouth in the first half, falling behind 74-47 at the break, as the team looked as bad as they have at any point this season, and though things were a little better after the break, the damage was already done.

Houston allowed Denver to shoot 53 percent from the field and a scorching 17-for-32 from three while only hitting on 42 percent of their own shots from the floor overall and were 12-for-41 from deep.

Kevin Porter Jr. was your leading scorer for the Rockets, finishing with 23 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists on 8-for-18 shooting, while Alperen Sengun tallied 18 points and 11 boards on 8-for-12 from the floor. They were your two best Rockets.

Jalen Green finished with 16 points and 3 assists on 6-for-16 from the field and Jabari Smith Jr. had 13 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, a steal and a block on 5-for-12 from the field to round out your Houston double-digit scorers. He did go 3-for-6 from deep.

Houston’s bench was mostly inept, with Daishen Nix leading the charge there with 7 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists, while Tari Eason snagged 5 boards but was 0-for-5 from the field. Bruno Fernando and Usman Garuba both blocked 2 shots each, but did little else of note. Just an ugly game all around at multiple levels for the Rockets.

Jamal Murray led the Nuggets with 26 points, Aaron Gordon had 20, while Nikola Jokic had a near triple double, tallying 17 points, 9 rebounds and 12 assists on 7-for-9 shooting in an incredibly efficient performance. He did all that in just 28 minutes of action.

It doesn’t get any easier for the Rockets, as they get a night off before a back-to-back weekend set at the Phoenix Suns and at the Golden State Warriors on Friday and Saturday.