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Sunday November 30, 2008 11:13 PM

Billups Leads Denver Past Houston


Rockets fall short 104-94

Jason Friedman
Rockets.com Staff Writer

Click here to listen to the Rockets postgame highlight show.

Houston - Undermanned and outplayed for most of the night, the Rockets refused to roll over in Denver. But as for actually winning the game? Chauncey Billups simply wouldn’t allow it.

The Nuggets’ new addition was at his Mr. Big Shot best Sunday night, repeatedly torching the Rockets and picking them apart to the tune of 28 points and 10 assists, as Denver defeated Houston 104-94.

The loss dropped the Rockets’ record to 11-7 and also marked the first time this season that the team fell short on the back end of a back-to-back. They were 4-0 in such situations prior to Sunday night’s contest.

“I thought we were right there,” said coach Rick Adelman after the game. “We needed to make some stops and we didn’t do it. I think you’ve got to give Billups a lot of credit: He really took the game over that second half. He made a lot of shots and he really made some nice plays to find other people when we were coming at him.”

Denver did most of its damage on offense from beyond the arc. J.R. Smith (19 points, 5 rebounds) got the Nuggets rolling from long range in the second quarter, when he knocked in three trifectas on his way to scoring 13 points in the frame.

Billups then took over from there, conducting a virtuoso performance in the second half which included 24 points, 6 assists and 4 three-pointers. For the game, the Nuggets shot an eye-popping 11-of-23 (47.8%) from beyond the arc.

Amazingly enough, the Rockets were just as good from downtown, connecting on 10-of-20. Unfortunately, Houston didn’t display the same sort of shot-making prowess when inside the three-point line. The Rockets were an anemic 37.5% on their two-point field goals, though Denver’s defense certainly deserved at least some of the credit for Houston’s wayward attempts. The Nuggets’ newfound commitment on the defensive end manifested itself in the form of a whopping 14 blocked shots Sunday night.

Still, Houston – playing without the injured Tracy McGrady, Shane Battier and Brent Barry - stayed within striking distance up until the game’s final minutes. After a Carl Landry (14 points) steal and fastbreak dunk, the Rockets – once down by as much as 14 – found themselves trailing by just five with more than seven minutes to go. But every time Houston threatened thereafter, Denver had an answer, often due to the brilliance of Billups’ play-making.

“I thought that when we started to come back in the fourth quarter, that we had a chance,” said Ron Artest (13 points on 5-of-18 shooting). “I think our guys played great, but I think I threw the game away for us. I’m just not seeing the defense the right way. It’ll be an adjustment when we get Tracy and Shane back. I just hope we can play with our whole team healthy for at least a couple of months. When somebody goes out, we have to do a better job of winning together and losing together. As a team we weren’t in sync tonight, but we will turn it around. This team is determined.”

Quotes

Rick Adelman – Rockets Head Coach

“We just didn’t do enough especially defensively. We didn’t rotate well and Billups got going in the second half.

(On playing Denver once ‘Melo went out): I think good teams at home usually respond. I expected somebody else on their team to step up. Certainly he is their leading scorer and everything, but they still have capable players.

(Ron Artest) We talked about it. I think he needed to look to kick it out better. When you put it on the floor and post up they were coming up at him, we have to find a way to make sure he sees the play, sees the kick-out.

Yao Ming – Rockets Center

“I missed a couple easy shots, a couple free-throws. They played good. I didn’t help out much on defense. They got the lead back towards the end and I think that is my fault. We didn’t play very well tonight, but we still had a chance. We were right there in it. It’s hard missing guys. We don’t have T-Mac, we don’t have Shane, but we still need to play the game. Most of the guys are still here. We can’t play like that. I hope we can get these players back as soon as possible, but we still have to play without them.”

George Karl – Nuggets Head Coach

“(Would you have predicted a 12 win season at this point?) It’s hard to predict anything early in the NBA season. We had a great training camp and I have to give credit to the assistant coaches and their preparation. Chauncey took what we were emphasizing and magnified it. Even in losing we seemed to gain confidence. We are still searching for our identity, our personality; there is an excitement of getting better.

(on JR Smith’s game): JR is a good-bad player. I am trying to take the bad out of his game. Consistency and attitude will keep him on the court.

(Who do you think top teams in league are at this point) I think LA and Cleveland are the top teams in the league at this point. Portland is playing at a high level and I am a big fan of Utah. All the Texas teams are scary. I thought we fought through a tough whistle tonight and we didn’t let it bother us. This was probably one of the best feel-good four out of five game stretches we have had.”

Nene – Nuggets Center

“(Strategy going in to play, defending in low post) Defending Yao he is really strong and a force. I tried taking him away from the basket and we did a good rotation on him. I think we frustrated him a little. It was a lot of work and it’s not easy.

(Play smart on fouls) Yeah, Christmas came early. I had to play smart, sometimes you need to play strong, but since I had an early foul I had to go easy. I had to go easy and K-Mart helped on the rotation. We worked hard in the low post and we had success.”

Chauncey Billups – Nuggets Guard

“(How did you win this game? What was the difference?): We just gutted it out, a lot of energy a lot of guys came up big. Especially with Melo out we had to step it up and we took the challenge.

(Remark on K-Mart, Nene, and Andersen) All of them were great. They took turns defending him ( Yao), they all defended him a little different, and so they kept him off balance. Yao is, of course, a tough cover, but we did a great job on him.

(on his 55 points in last two games) I am feeling good. I am just happy to be winning to be honest with you.

(Overcome their threes) I think you got to try to slow the game down a little bit, try to get on the free-throw line, stop their run a little bit, just try to pound it in if you can. You can’t run up and down and try to trade with them. You got to try to get some structure into the game.

(on JR’s game) He was great, especially after a disappointing night last night. I try to tell him to stay focused, stay focused. He was definitely that tonight. What he does, we need every night and I am going to stay on him.”

Carmelo Anthony – Nuggets Forward

“(Elbow) It’s just something that has been bothering me since training camp. I’ll be ok. I’ll get there. It’s just something I couldn’t resist tonight. I was out there trying to shoot the ball, even when I was rebounding and passing the ball, I couldn’t really do that. I found one time passing it to Nene and my arm was just weak out there. I don’t know if its rest or what, I have to come in tomorrow and get some treatment on it.

(Tuesday?) Yeah, I’ll be there Tuesday. I don’t like sitting out.

(Pain?) Yeah it was pain to where I couldn’t even dribble the basketball. I tried to lift my son after the game and I couldn’t even do that. I don’t know what they got for me tomorrow, but I’ll do it.

(Did you think you could give it a go tonight) It was before the game. Actually it was yesterday in the game and before that too. It’s been doing that for the last month. It was hurting a lot before this game, but I told them I wanted to go.

(To not play in second half) It was mine (decision).”

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