ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Nuggets 12/8/2023

That was a really strange end to the game.

Sengun absolutely mauling Jokic resulting in a jump ball somehow.

Two Rockets players grabbing Murray as he tried to get through the key on the out of bounds which resulted in his ejection.

When do the refs so blatantly disregard the whistle in favour for the Rockets? Over the defending champs no less. Just really, really strange.

Jalen was nice for the most part tonight - I wish he'd attack as fast as he did on those 3 straight plays I think it was during the game. Use his speed to his advantage. It looks easy for him when he does. Shame he doesn't do it anywhere near as often as he should.

He is still clueless how to operate a pnr which is rubbish.

And I don't think I've ever seen him pass the ball on the perimeter right into the guys pocket. The player getting the ball seemingly always has to reach behind him to get a Jalen Green pass.

Sengun's free throws though... C'mon guy!

 

I think the refs missed a few calls that helped start Denver run and ended up helping us in the end…

 

Theoretically Cade as a 6'6/6'7 playmaker is Def more valuable than Green who is a 6'4 sg prospect. However Cade has honestly looked real bad, ever since he came from injury he has looked a lot slower and less engaged on defense and even his shooting has failed to improve. Rox also have Amen Thompson so they dont need Cade.

Personally I have them even I think both have underwhelmed compared to others taken after them like Barnes and Wagner. You are right Jalen does have more potential but Im not sure how much of his potential he can realize. I guess we will see in the next 2yrs.

 

Sengun defense on Jokic bothered him a lot . It seems like if jokic can not assist , his all around game suffers ,I think Sengun is already feels like he is one of the top centers in the leauge and plays accordingly .

 

Black Mumble! Holy **** that's good!

 

Very true, they were really letting Denver do whatever they wanted during the 18-0 run in the 4th quarter.

 

Rockets has been slipping in the standings. Was #10 in the west, after tonight, went up two spots to #8.

 

Did you think you fell asleep during the game and had a dream that Green attacked fast on those 3 straight plays during the halftime show or a timeout?

I recall Green making a clueless but good ''pocket'' pass to VV who missed a wide open 3

Rockets have been getting hosed by the refs all season long, so it took almost game 20 for them to finally get some fair or favorable ref treatment, now that's really strange

Fair weather fanatics are the best, sincerely

 

The last 8 Minutes of the game was horrible! If you be 25 Points in front, you never give the Nuggets a chance for a comeback! But i think in the process of the team you must play also a game like this. Its also important to close this game. Its the first win on the Road and 3:1 against the last champions! The Rockets left this match with a blue eye!
Lets go for the next wins!!

 

Jokic and Denver got a ton of calls go their way, that dirty bald ref tried to call Jabari out of bounds with his foot 6 inches inside the line. Whatever calls went the Rockets way it wasn’t as many as they gave Denver.

 

When Jalen plays like that this team is unstoppable. Great effort tonight.

 

Cade's shooting is starting to come around. If he can cut down the turnovers and knock down his threes he's going to be a good one. Can't believe I have to keep saying this about a guy who's still played in less than 100 NBA games, but people have been way too fast to write him off

 

Where is the person who was accusing me being troll when I said Rockets is much better than Nuggets?

 

Well, the Nuggets were better last year when they won the title, this year they might not even repeat....

It is difficult to repeat or threepeat.

 

When the season started, if you had told me that the Rockets would win their season series against the Nuggets, I would have thought you weren't serious. Lots of positives here:

I loved seeing Jae'Sean Tate hit a three to end the third, capping a scoring burst.
I loved the Rocket's toughness on the glass against a Nuggets team that has pushed them around a bit. Jokic had 5 boards (2 offensive)
I loved getting some overdue respect from the refs. Sengun and company have had a short whistle and difficulty drawing fouls.
I loved seeing the Nuggets lose their cool as they got sick of our defense and control of the pace.
I loved seeing a low turnover game on the road (only 9). Sengun and Jalen Green were much more under control in this one.

The Rockets made Jokic look like a burdened superstar. He almost fouled out and took 26 shots to get 23 points. Only 14 points in the paint with two 3-point attempts.

This game could have been on ice easily if we hadn't missed seven fourth-quarter FTs. But we showed some nerves with a lead. When was the last time we had this kind of problem?

Like others, I can't wait to see Amen Thompson take on a few of FVV's minutes (40 is too many) and see a couple of other players have their minutes dialed back. If Udoka can balance that rotation in the coming weeks, we'll see better shooting percentages and higher levels of energy in the long run.

 

It's a strange stat, but often that's because he's finding ways to score when others are really off on their 3PT shots. Sengun isn't selfish. He's 2nd in assists behind VanVleet. When he scored 30 PTS we were only shooting 13-41 behind the arc, while the Warriors were hitting 48% of their 3's. VanVleet and Green were only 3-17 that night. When he scored 31 PTS we were 8/29 from behind the arc. VanVleet and Green were 3/13 that night. Chunking a bunch of 3's are often game killers.

Green takes way too many 3's, when we have much better 3PT shooters. VanVleet takes too many 2PT shots period, but he's a better 3PT shooter than Green.

 

Hell we should won both the lakers, mavs, and clippers game too if it wasn’t for those refs

 

Honestly the roster construction and the coaching on that team is a mess. Feel sorry for Cade.

And ya he wouldn't make sense for the way our team is constructed. I think Green is a better robin to Sengun than Cade would be. Green is more explosive off Sengun's dho plays and Green has more outside gravity than Cade.

like when Charmeleon evolved to Charazard.

 

I think all the off days was a gift to a young team that was being completely re-vamped. It will be interesting to see how they handle the tons of back-to-backs coming up. I read we have the worst “rest days” the remainder of the year, but we have the weakest schedule of all the Western teams the rest of the way. Getting Amen back and some semblance of a backup center is still very important.

 

I loved that Jalen actually did a couple of stop and pops. He needs to continue to take wide open 3’s, but if he can perfect that stop on a dime mid-range jumper he will become unstoppable. Calvin Murphy made a career of stop and pops.