Michael Porter Jr. scored a career-high 39 points on 8-of-12 shooting from 3-point range (66.7%) as the Nuggets routed the undermanned Houston Rockets on Saturday night in Denver, 129-116 (box score). MVP frontrunner Nikola Jokic added 24 points and 12 assists.
Forwards Kelly Olynyk (21 points, 11 assists), D.J. Wilson (25 points) and Anthony Lamb (21 points) all broke the 20-point mark for the Rockets. For Wilson and Lamb, those scoring totals were career-highs.
With Saturday’s result, the Nuggets (39-21) held their position at No. 4 in the Western Conference, while the Rockets (15-46) retain the NBA’s worst record. In addition to the clear talent mismatch, Houston was dealing with a range of injury and fatigue issues after playing Friday at home in a surprisingly close game versus the Los Angeles Clippers.
As expected, the Rockets were severely short-handed in the aftermath, with Christian Wood (right ankle), John Wall (maintenance), Kevin Porter Jr. (health and safety protocols), DJ Augustin (left ankle), Sterling Brown (left knee), Dante Exum (right calf), Eric Gordon (right groin), David Nwaba (right wrist), Danuel House Jr. (right ankle), and Avery Bradley (illness) all unavailable. In total, Houston had a much longer list of injured players (10) than of available options (seven).
Still no Danuel House Jr. as starters have come out and back in. He was not in the extensive injury report and Silas said he would watch him closely to limit minutes. Could be things did not go well with that ankle in warmups. If out, that would make 10 unavailable Rockets.
— Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) April 25, 2021
See below for a roundup of Saturday’s highlights and postgame reaction. Houston returns to action on Tuesday at home versus Minnesota. Wall and Porter should both return by then, but the status of the others is unclear. Tipoff is set for 8:00 p.m. Central from Toyota Center.
Hell of a start for Kenyon Martin Jr: 18 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals in 42 minutes
— Kelly Iko (@KellyIkoNBA) April 25, 2021
Danuel House Jr. was always going to be used only in an emergency situation, Silas said, because of the way he was limping last night. https://t.co/hIup3aaJPT
— Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) April 25, 2021
Despite the ending results the young guys balled out and played hard all 48 minutes.
DJ Wilson: 25 PTS | 4 AST | 8 REB | 10-17 FG
Anthony Lamb: 21 PTS | 8-14 FG
KJ Martin: 18 PTS | 2 AST | 4 REB | 7-12 FG
Jae’Sean Tate: 14 PTS | 4 STL | 4 REB | 4 AST
— Apollo Media (@ApolloHOU) April 25, 2021
