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Nuggets game day: The one play Houston runs for "48 minutes"

February 9, 2018

The last time Nuggets faced the Houston Rockets, which was in late November, James Harden, Chris Paul and Co. carved Denver up like a Thanksgiving turkey. The Rockets scored 75 points in the first half and wound up shooting 54.9 percent from the floor in a 125-95 win.

“Obviously, the last time we played them was one of our poorer showings of the year,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said.

It was apparent then that the Rockets had something special with their backcourt. Houston repeatedly ran pick and rolls featuring Harden or Paul and got easy looks all game out of the action. Entering Friday’s rematch against the Rockets (6 p.m., Altitude), Malone said slowing Houston in the pick and roll is one of the keys to the game.

“We’re going to see pick and roll for 48 minutes tomorrow, whether it’s James Harden or Chris Paul,” Malone said. “(Clint) Capela is a dynamic roller. If you don’t account for his rolls, he gets lob dunks because teams are so worried about the three-point line. He sets screens, he rolls, he collapses, and they get assists to the kick outs. They stay home, and they hit Capela rolling.”

As Malone alluded to, Rockets center Clint Capela is a dangerous roll man. He’s shooting 65.8 percent from the floor this season. He subsists on a diet of lob passes and dunks.

In the clip above, the Nuggets tried to defend the pick and roll somewhat aggressively. Wilson Chandler stepped up to cut off Harden, but Harden threw the lob before Chandler could do anything about it.

Earlier in that Nov. 22 game, Denver tried a more conservative approach. The Nuggets’ big guarding the screener hung back in the paint and tried to prevent a lob. It didn’t work well for Denver either.

After the game, Malone took the blame for Denver’s failed conservative strategy to stopping pick and rolls.

“We made a change after 17 games, and that’s poor coaching by me,” he said. “I didn’t trust what we did after 17 games.”

The Nuggets began the year aggressive blitzing pick and rolls. How Denver chooses to defend that action Friday against the second-best offensive team in basketball will be worth monitoring.