Early in the season teams need to be careful of underestimating opponents expected not to be in the mix at season end or looking ahead to the next game. That may well have been what happened as the Houston Rockets faced the Denver Nuggets in their home opener and lost badly behind a poor effort on both ends.
Pregame emphasis was on the battle of the point guards given Ty Lawson ‘s trade seemingly occurred partially due to personality conflicts, but also because the Nuggets top draft pick Emmanuel Mudiay was deemed the future of the team.