Russell Westbrook led the way with 28 points and 16 rebounds as the Houston Rockets snapped a four-game losing streak with a 121-105 home victory (box score) on Wednesday night over Denver.
The win improves Houston to 27-16, while dropping the Nuggets to 30-14. It also gives the Rockets a 2-1 lead in the season series between the teams, which could be critical for potential tiebreaker purposes. The fourth and final game between them comes Sunday afternoon in Denver.
Backcourt co-star James Harden scored 27 points on 6-of-13 (46.2%) shooting, making it just the second time in eight games that he’s shot above 40%. Meanwhile, Eric Gordon had a season-high 25 points off the bench with a season-best 6-of-8 showing (75%) on 3-pointers.
But Westbrook was the clear headliner. With 28 points, 16 rebounds, eight assists, and four steals, he was the first Rockets player to post those numbers or better (in those categories) since Hall of Fame center Hakeem Olajuwon. “The Dream” did that nearly 30 years ago… on March 3, 1990.
Wednesday’s victory was the 200th win in Houston for head coach Mike D’Antoni. In his postgame remarks, D’Antoni said he recently told his team that they were struggling with defensive rebounding — to which Westbrook replied, “I’ll just go get them.” With 10 of his team-high 16 rebounds versus Denver coming on defense, he certainly did his part.
Besides his presence on the glass, Westbrook also played well as a floor general in leading the Rockets during minutes that Harden sat on the bench — as evidenced by his plus/minus total of +25, compared to +7 for Harden. In those bench minutes, Austin Rivers (11 points) played well in his return from a thumb injury with three makes in four 3-point attempts.
The Nuggets were led by All-Star center Nikola Jokic, who had a triple-double with 19 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists.
The Rockets return to action Friday at Minnesota (15-29) to kick off a four-game road trip, with tip-off scheduled for 7 p.m. Central time.
