HOUSTON — It wasn’t defense or scoring that hurt the Nuggets the most on Wednesday against the Rockets; it was their lack of size.
Mason Plumlee, Paul Millsap and Michael Porter Jr. were all out due to various injuries, and the Rockets bombarded the Nuggets on the offensive glass. Houston had 18 offensive rebounds, including eight from Clint Capela and six from Russell Westbrook. There was no overcoming that number, which contributed to Houston’s plus-13 rebounding advantage.
It was that component — not Gary Harris’ individual defense or Jamal Murray’s scoring ability – that the Nuggets missed the most.