NBA

Regular Season Round 109: Denver N. - Houston R. 101-86

Date: April 15, 2012
Arron Afflalo scored 20 of his 22 points in the second half, leading the Denver Nuggets to a 101-86 win over the Houston Rockets on Sunday night in the opener of a crucial home-and-home set between playoff hopefuls. The teams play again in Houston on Monday night. With the win, the Nuggets took sole possession of seventh place in the Western Conference, a-half game behind Dallas, which lost in overtime to the Los Angeles Lakers earlier Sunday. The teams are clinging to the final two playoff spots in the West, trying to fend off fast-charging Phoenix and Utah. Ty Lawson also scored 20 points for Denver, which has won five straight at home. Chase Budinger and Luis Scola each scored 19 to lead the Rockets, who lost their third straight game and saw their four-game road winning streak come to an end. The Rockets, who lost to the Suns and Jazz at home in the last week, led this one 49-43 at the half but were outscored 37-19 in the third quarter, falling behind 80-68 and never recovered. The Nuggets opened the fourth quarter with an amazing play in which Andre Miller threw the ball three-quarters the length of the court for an alley-oop dunk by Corey Brewer. They stretched their lead to 87-68 before Goran Dragic's layup ended an 11-0 spurt by Denver. Nuggets coach George Karl said his team had to treat its final seven games like a playoff series, suggesting they had to win four games at minimum to reach the playoffs for a ninth consecutive season. All but one of their remaining opponents are playoff-caliber teams. The Rockets, who last made the playoffs in 2009, have a rough road to the postseason themselves. After their back-to-backs against Denver, they play at Dallas, and they've lost six straight to the Mavericks. Rockets guard Courtney Lee missed a dunk in the third quarter, leading to a 3-pointer by Afflalo at the other end that capped a 14-4 run to open the second half and put Denver ahead 59-53. Budinger scored 16 first-half points, doubling his scoring average and leading the Rockets to a 49-43 halftime lead. He sank four 3-pointers, including tree in the final 2 1/2 minutes of the first quarter, when he poured in 11 quick points, including a 3 that was on its way when the buzzer sounded and the backboard lit up in red lights. *Courtesy of www.miamiherald.com
  DENVER N. (coach: David Adelman)101
  FIELD GOALS REBOUNDS   FOULS   BLOCKS  
#   NAME MIN 2PM-A 3PM-A FTM-A OFF DEF RB AS F RV ST FV AG TO PT RNK +/-
1 SfflilI, SQQIj 43 9-68 (02.4%) 8-4 (11.9%) 5-5 (5%) 6 4 3 8 4 5 5 5 5 4 85 63 5
4 viTsIj, wF 43 9-66 (14.1%) 5-3 (5%) 1-1 (655%) 6 6 8 0 8 5 6 5 5 6 85 69 5
2 GillajiQa, gijalI 87 4-3 (90%) 6-3 (80%) 6-8 (05%) 5 0 0 4 3 5 6 5 5 4 65 9 5
40 yiQaRd, KRjjRUh 87 8-3 (05%) 5-5 (5%) 1-9 (20.9%) 8 7 66 6 4 5 6 8 5 4 65 61 5
64 mQRTRQ, CIQRF 83 9-66 (14.1%) 5-6 (5%) 5-5 (5%) 5 5 5 3 8 5 8 5 5 5 63 64 5
83 ballRQ, SjdQR 88 4-7 (44.4%) 5-5 (5%) 5-5 (5%) 6 1 9 66 4 5 6 6 5 8 1 60 5
9 HiQQajDUIj, Sl 86 6-0 (85%) 6-3 (80%) 5-5 (5%) 5 3 3 6 8 5 5 5 5 4 0 -8 5
36 KIufIs, KIsUis 85 3-1 (11.9%) 5-5 (5%) 6-8 (05%) 4 4 1 5 6 5 5 6 5 6 7 66 5
43 bZGRR, ziLilR 62 4-4 (655%) 5-5 (5%) 6-3 (80%) 6 0 1 5 8 5 5 6 5 5 9 7 5
86 ChijdlRQ, WalsIj 9 5-8 (5%) 5-5 (5%) 5-5 (5%) 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 -8 5
6 HiBalUIj, zIQdij 8 5-5 (5%) 5-5 (5%) 5-5 (5%) 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
80 bIJDIL, waBIfRF  gXO - CIiZh's gRZasaIj
66 SjdRQsRj, ChQas  gXO - CIiZh's gRZasaIj
wIUil   49-19 (00.8%) 3-61 (80.5%) 60-86 (96.3%) 7 41 30 89 88 5 1 0 5 61 656 72  


  HOUSTON R. (coach: Ime Udoka)86
  FIELD GOALS REBOUNDS   FOULS   BLOCKS  
#   NAME MIN 2PM-A 3PM-A FTM-A OFF DEF RB AS F RV ST FV AG TO PT RNK +/-
65 mudajDRQ, ChisR 40 8-1 (44.4%) 0-65 (05%) 5-5 (5%) 6 0 1 6 4 5 8 5 5 6 67 60 5
0 vRR, CIuQUjRF 43 6-0 (85%) 8-3 (05%) 5-8 (5%) 6 4 3 8 5 5 4 6 5 6 2 7 5
80 OiQsIjs, ChijdlRQ 44 4-65 (45%) 6-4 (44.4%) 4-1 (05%) 3 0 7 5 5 5 5 5 5 8 68 9 5
03 OiUURQsIj, OiUQaZV 45 5-1 (5%) 5-5 (5%) 6-8 (05%) 8 5 8 6 4 5 5 6 5 8 6 -9 5
3 AZIli, vuas 82 2-64 (16.0%) 5-5 (5%) 4-3 (90%) 6 6 8 6 8 5 6 6 5 8 67 63 5
4 gQiDaZ, GIQij 82 4-1 (05%) 6-0 (85%) 4-3 (90%) 8 8 3 1 3 5 8 5 5 3 68 2 5
  gilRBMRQU, AiBuRl 67 8-1 (44.4%) 5-5 (5%) 5-5 (5%) 6 1 9 5 6 5 6 8 5 4 3 1 5
9 vITQF, KFlR 63 5-3 (5%) 6-8 (05%) 5-5 (5%) 5 8 8 3 8 5 5 5 5 6 4 6 5
  CiBMF, biQZus 2 5-6 (5%) 5-5 (5%) 5-5 (5%) 5 6 6 8 8 5 5 5 5 6 5 -6 5
  mIFVajs, qiQl 1 6-6 (655%) 5-6 (5%) 8-8 (655%) 5 8 8 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 3 0 5
  bIQQas, biQZus 1 8-4 (11.9%) 5-6 (5%) 5-5 (5%) 5 8 8 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 3 3 5
68 biQUaj, KRLaj  gXO - CIiZh's gRZasaIj
wIUil   88-16 (41.6%) 65-81 (42.0%) 68-85 (15.5%) 68 87 36 69 69 5 7 0 5 69 21 16  



Terms:
Field Goals :  2PM-A  (2 point Field Goal made-attempts)     3PM-A  (3 point Field Goal made-attempts)   FTM-A (free throws made-attempt)
Rebounds : OFF (Offensive)  DEF (Defensive)   TOT  (total)
Fouls : CM (Committed)  RV (received)
Blocks : FV (In Favor)  AG (Against)
Other terms : MIN (minutes)  AST (assists)  ST (steals)   TO (Turnovers)   PTS (points)  RNK (ranking)