A winless road team takes on an undefeated home team on Friday night when the Houston Rockets travel to take on the Denver Nuggets. Houston is 0-8 in road games, while Denver is 9-0 at home. The Rockets are coming off a 110-101 home win over the Thunder, winning outright as 1.5-point underdogs. The Nuggets just lost on the road to the Clippers, going down 111-102 as half point underdogs. This is already the fourth matchup between these two teams, as every home team has won with the Rockets having the 2-1 lead in the series.

Rockets Snap Three Game Skid

The Houston Rockets currently sit at 10th in the Western Conference, and snapped out of a recent three game losing streak. The Western Conference can be brutal at times, as none of the losses were unexpected coming against the Mavericks, Nuggets and Lakers. The Rockets won their first game back at home by defeating the Thunder by nine, Houston started the game getting out to a 32-22 lead in the first quarter, and never relinquished the lead. The Rockets were led by Dillon Brooks with 23 points in the game, while Jabari Smith Jr. grabbed an impressive 18 rebounds.
The Rockets are led in scoring by their young center Alperen Sengun with 21.0 PPG, and he also leads in rebounding with 9.0 per game. Sengun has scored 20 or more in his last five games, including a 31 point game against the Mavericks. The Rockets have stuck with the same starting lineup all season. Jalen Green (18.8 PPG) and Dillon Brooks (13.8 PPG) start on the wing, Fred Van Vleet (16.2 PPG) runs the point and Jabari Smith Jr. (12.9 PPG) starts at power forward. The Rockets have a young core to build on, and if Sengun, Green and Smith Jr. can continue to improve Houston has a chance to make playoffs in the stacked Western Conference.

The starters all average double figures, but the top scorer on the bench is Aaron Holiday with just 7.4 PPG. The second unit also features heavy doses of forwards Tari Eason and Jeff Green. Houston ranks 20th in offensive efficiency and 7th in defensive efficiency according to dunksandthrees.com. The young Rockets play surprisingly slow on offense, they use coach Ime Udoka’s offensive sets and take their time to find a good shot. The Rockets rank 28th in the league in tempo.

Injury Report:

Day-to-Day: Jeff Green, Jock Landale

Out: Amen Thompson, Victor Oladipo

Mile High Advantage

The Nuggets will come into this game with confidence, as Denver is undefeated at home this season. The Nuggets are currently on a two game slide, as they lost in Sacramento and Los Angeles to the Clippers. Denver will be excited to return to their home floor, their last home game was against these same Rockets, when the Nuggets won 134-124. The Nuggets controlled that entire game, as they took a 41-26 first quarter lead, and held the lead throughout the whole game. The Nuggets used their size against the Rockets, as Nikola Jokic had 32 points, 15 assists and 10 rebounds, and Michael Porter Jr. added 30 points and ten rebounds.
Jokic is the heart and soul of the Nuggets again this season, he leads the team in points, rebounds and assists with 28.6 PPG, 12.9 RPG, and 9.8 APG. He is very close to averaging a triple-double on the season. Jokic has had a triple double with at least 20 points in three of his las four games. Michael Porter Jr. is next up in scoring, the 6’10 shooter is averaging 17.5 PPG and 8.1 RPG. Jamal Murray is not far behind, as he averages 17.0 PPG with 7.1 APG. Aaron Gordon is an excellent piece to play inside with Jokic, he is an athletic and powerful forward adding 13.1 PPG and 7.1 RPG. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope rounds out the starting lineup with 10.8 PPG as a spot-up shooter.

Reggie Jackson plays a large role for Denver, he starts in the backcourt with Murray is out, or comes off the bench and contributes 13.6 PPG. Christian Braun plays heavy minutes off the bench, and Deandre Jordan just started getting backup center minutes inside. Denver ranks 3rd in offensive efficiency and 16th in defensive efficiency. Denver also plays slow offensively, they run the offense through Jokic and rank 26th in the NBA in tempo.

Injury Report:

Out: Vlatko Cancar