Rockets top the Denver Nuggets, 122-111

Posted: November 16, 2013 -- 10:48 pm CST.

HOUSTON, TX (Toyota Center) -- The Houston Rockets never trailed (tied once) the Denver Nuggets Saturday night and raced past the Nuggets with a 122-111 victory. Dwight Howard sank 17 of 24 free throws and scored a team-high 25 points for the Rockets (7-4).

The Nuggets used the Hack-a-Howard strategy midway through the fourth quarter; but, to his credit, Howard made 14 of 20 free throws in the final quarter. The Nuggets didn't get closer than nine points to the Rockets in the fourth period.

"There's nothing I can do but try to make the free throws," said Howard after the game. "Just focus and make them pay at the line. There's nothing I can do about it besides make them. The more free throws I make, the less teams will do the Hack-A-Howard. So, I'm just going to continue to practice; and, they will start falling."

Chandler Parsons set the tone for the Rockets in the first period. Parsons scored 12 points on 4-for-4 field goals and 3-for-3 from the foul line.

The Rockets outscored the Nuggets 33-23 in the quarter.

Donatas Motiejunas scored nine points off the bench in the second quarter and helped the Rockets top the Nuggets 30-23 in the period. Jeremy Lin added eight points as the Rockets' reserves scored 19 of the Rockets' 30 points.

The Rockets led 63-46 at halftime.

The Rockets led the Nuggets (4-5) by 18 points (66-48) in the third quarter; but, Denver's Ty Lawson scored four straight points which started an 11-0 run to cut the Rockets' lead to seven (66-59) with 8:27 left in the third quarter.

"I thought that we were a little bit flat coming out of the halftime," said Kevin McHale. "We called a couple of timeouts. We got some stops and got out running and had some things go our way."

Instead of cratering, the Rockets responded with a 14-2 run to boost the lead to 19 points. The Rockets led 90-75 after three periods.

Despite utilizing the Hack-A-Howard strategy, Denver head coach Brian Shaw said he wasn't thrilled he resorted to it.

"That goes against everything I'm about," Shaw said. "I even think you guys asked me that before the game; if I would resort to that, and, I don't believe in that and I don't think it's in the spirit of the game. So, that is exactly what I get for doing that. I'm glad he made his free throws; and, it shows me to just be true to who you are. It backfired. We actually had started defending; and, we got the lead to somewhere around 10. We were in the penalty already; so, that was our thinking behind it. We gave it a shot; and, he got into a rhythm and started knocking them down - to his credit."

Parsons finished the game with 20 points. James Harden added 17; Jeremy Lin scored 16; Terrence Jones scored 14; Motiejunas added 12 and Patrick Beverley scored 11. Harden dished out nine assists while Lin added seven dimes.

The Rockets shot 50.6% (41 for 81); 9 for 21 from the three-point line; and 31 for 44 from the foul line. They dished out 27 assists, too.

"We have a goal of 25 free throws, 25 layups, and 25 assists," said Kevin McHale. "This is one of the few nights that we've done it (this season). Last year, when we did it, we won 84% of the time when we met those categories. Tonight, we were able to get that. That's kind of where our team is. When we're playing well, we're running; getting layups; we're running and getting fouled and we're running and moving the ball."

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