Do not invest more money than you can afford to lose.
Mark Travis is a Sports Media major at Oklahoma State University and a graduate of Flour Bluff High School.
Those are among the questions that could very well be answered when the Denver Nuggets face the Houston Rockets at the Toyota Center.
After an impressive road win against the Houston Rockets to open the season, the Denver Nuggets are in town for their first game of the season at Pepsi Center. Harden drilled a trey just prior to the buzzer to pull the Rockets to within 53-49 at the break, but their inability to grab the lead in the second quarter proved foreboding.
The Congolese, the third youngest player to make their debut for the Nuggets, spent more playing time than any other player – 37:54 minutes – to make not one or two, but instead hit 3 three-pointers to finish with 17 points. I know it’s probably going to be electric in the arena with us coming in.
“Let’s do it”, Gallinari said to a chorus of laughs. Several times on Wednesday the three-man crew wasn’t giving him the calls. When he did get the ball, he challenged the defense with drives and pump fakes, but Denver’s defense withstood his efforts. Last season, defenders would jump into the air and Harden would lean into them, drawing a contact foul. But Denver stood its ground on the pump fakes.
An understated benefit to Lawson’s presence is it may allow Houston to add a new best catch-and-shoot player to its offensive mix. They believe in me and they believe I can be the leader, I can be the best player on the court, and I have to do it. I see that as my role.
“Everybody outside of our organization can pick us last if they want”, Malone said. On the flip side, Lawson has always been prone to lackadaisical stretches when he settles for perimeter shots and his already poor defense gets downgraded to “horrible” simply due to a lack of effort. The pace was bad and disjointed. With a strong core and a few depth, the Rockets look like a legitimate title contender.
We might get a preview of that tomorrow night, but really only a preliminary glimpse – Bogut will be out, the Rockets are still a little banged up and I’m sure the Rockets will be a better team come Spring. But in just one game, one thing is clear about these Nuggets: This isn’t last season.
Joffrey Lauvergne and Clint Capela are their replacements, and I’d have to give a slight edge to Capela at that position.
Center Festus Ezeli, starting in place of an injured Andrew Bogut, had nine points and seven rebounds. His inability to help on the weakside – and he wasn’t alone at this – hurt the big men. Montrezl Harrell, the rookie, did well in 16 minutes, but it’s not enough, and he won’t be playing too much at the moment.
Against taller veteran Nuggets, he struggled, which is expected.
But the new backcourt pairing with Harden was comfortable as a hair shirt as they shot a combined 9-for-31 from the field and never found any kind of syncopated rhythm to what they were trying to do, turning too many possessions into model turns going singularly down the runway.
