Rockets Get One Night to Enjoy It: Golden State Is at Toyota Center on Wednesday, With Houston at 8-3
Monday's 110-100 win over Denver - Durant and Sengun both a rebound-and-assist line short of triple-doubles - snapped a two-game skid and moved Houston to 8-3. The Warriors close the homestand Wednesday night at 8:30.
The Houston Rockets' reward for their best win of the young season is a short turnaround. Houston beat the Denver Nuggets 110-100 at Toyota Center on Monday night and hosts the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. CT in the same building, carrying an 8-3 record into the matchup.
Monday's win was built the way this roster is designed to win. Kevin Durant finished with 23 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists and Alperen Sengun added 20 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists, and Houston shot 6 of 11 from three in the fourth quarter to hold off a Denver rally and snap a two-game skid. The Rockets led by as many as 19 before Jamal Murray - who scored 15 of his game-high 38 points in the fourth - dragged the Nuggets back into it; Nikola Jokic added 25 points, 16 rebounds and nine assists in the loss.
The two losses that preceded Monday, to Minnesota and Phoenix after a 7-1 start, showed the other version of this team, which is what makes Wednesday a useful measuring stick: a veteran Warriors side visiting a Rockets group that has been strong at home and is still proving it can string together complete games against playoff-tested opponents.
Houston's formula from Monday travels well on paper - win the glass, move the ball, and let Durant and Sengun bend the defense from two different spots. Repeating it 48 hours later, against a fresh opponent that has had the Rockets' number in big moments for a decade, is the next piece of evidence about what this 8-3 start really is.
