Rockets at Nuggets
THE STORY: The Houston Rockets have struggled on the road and the
Denver Nuggets have been solid at home. The two squads meet Monday in
Denver at a time when both teams are dealing with rough stretches. The
Rockets have lost three of four games and started a six-game road trip
by losing to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday. The Nuggets are
opening a three-game homestand looking to recover from a stretch in
which they lost four of five games. Denver was routed by the Portland
Trail Blazers on Saturday while playing for the third time in three
nights. “We just need to start being more physical,” Nuggets forward
Corey Brewer said. “The last couple games we haven’t had the physicality
we need.” Rockets forward Luis Scola was on the receiving end of some
physical play in Houston’s last game when Minnesota’s Kevin Love stepped
on his face. “It kind of fired us up a little bit but it was just one
play,” Scola said. Houston is 3-8 on the road and Denver is 7-4 at home.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, FS Houston, Altitude (Denver)
ABOUT THE ROCKETS (13-11):
Scola had 24 points against Minnesota to end a 12-game stretch in which
he failed to reach 20 points. It was sixth 20-point outing of the
season and the second-highest total behind the 28 he scored against the
Oklahoma City Thunder on Jan. 7. Scola is averaging only 15.0 points and
5.8 rebounds after averaging a career-best 18.3 points last season and
averaging more than eight rebounds for the third straight season. The
Rockets would like to see the Argentina native get on a roll.
ABOUT THE NUGGETS (15-9):
Kosta Koufos will get his second straight start at center with Timofey
Mozgov ruled out of Monday’s game with an ankle injury. Koufos started
in place of Mozgov against Portland and had a season-high 16 points and a
career-high 12 rebounds for his second double-double of the season. It
was an encouraging performance and Koufos will get a good test against
the Rockets by going up against cagey veteran Samuel Dalembert.
BUZZER BEATERS:
1. The Rockets and Nuggets split four meetings last season with each team winning once on the other’s homecourt.
2.
Denver guard Arron Afflalo went scoreless against Portland and has
failed to reach double digits in five of the last six games.
3.
Houston guard Kevin Martin scored only two points on 1-of-10 shooting
against Minnesota after averaging 27.3 points over his previous seven
games.