Houston saw what potential it could achieve when Russell Westbrook, James Harden and Eric Gordon play well on the same night. Westbrook had 28 points, 16 rebounds and eight assists, Harden added 27 points, Gordon scored 25 points on 6-of-8 shooting on 3-pointers, and the Rockets snapped a four-game losing streak.

Nikola led the Nuggets — down five players, including three starters — with 19 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists for his eighth triple-double of the season. Denver shot 46%, including 10 of 28 on 3-pointers.

„We missed bodies, but that’s not an excuse,“ Jokic said. „We need to go out there and compete and we did. We need to do a better job of rebounding. I need to do a better job of throwing the ball around, not having turnovers, just to lead the team a little bit better.“

Denver coach Michael Malone refused to use the injuries as an excuse for the loss, instead pointing to rebounding where Houston held a 53-40 advantage and had 18 offensive rebounds.

„To me, that’s the one area, I don’t care who’s available, that has nothing to do with talent,“ Malone said. „The guys that are shooting up and being called upon to play can go out there and rebound the basketball.“

Houston outscored the Nuggets 31-10 to take a 56-36 lead with 3 1/2 minutes left in the first half. The Rockets led 60-43 at the half. Denver never got closer than 13 in the second half.

D’ANTONI MOVES UP COACHING CHARTS

D’Antoni earned his 200th win as the coach of the Rockets on Wednesday, joining Rudy Tomjanovich (503) and Bill Fitch (216) as the only other coaches in franchise history with 200 or more wins. D’Antoni also moved past Flip Saunders for 21st most wins in NBA history with 655.

IZVOR: ESPN

19/12/10 – Sedmi u sezoni.

ESPN