March 11, 2026; Denver, Colorado, USA; Houston Rockets’ center Clint Capela (30) and forward Jeff Green (32) succeeded in rebounding in the fourth quarter against the Denver Nuggets held at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Image The Houston Rockets, suffering their second blowout loss in four days, bear little resemblance to their Western Conference rivals despite tying for third in the third seed behind two of the league’s juggernauts.
After giving up a season-high 145 points on the road to the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday, the Rockets suffered a 36-point loss to the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday. Houston is scheduled to open a five-game homestand against the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday and is in third place in the West, tied with the Los Angeles Lakers, Minnesota Timberwolves and Nuggets.
The Rockets haven’t passed the eye test recently. Denver hung on to the Rockets for 129 points, the third-highest total points surrendered by Houston this season. Defensively, the Rockets are tied for 7th in the NBA in defensive efficiency, but they continue to regress on that end of the court.
Offensively, Houston ranks 11th, but the drastic fluctuations in performance are noteworthy. The Rockets are one of the worst teams in the league in turnover percentage (28th), and their offensive rebounding has collapsed since reserve center Steven Adams was lost to season-ending ankle surgery in mid-January.
The lackluster shooting the Rockets endured in Denver, combined with poor ball stability and pedestrian rebounding, has often resulted in catastrophic results.
The Rockets missed 29 of 33 3-pointers and made just 5 of 14 free throws. A six-point halftime deficit swelled in the third quarter when the Rockets led 40-22, and their spirits were dampened by a series of mistakes that sapped their defensive intensity.
Opponents have cracked down on Rockets leading scorer Kevin Durant and dared his teammates to change their public appearances. That strategy has often proven effective.
“At this point in the season, we need to be able to utilize double teams and get offense to Kevin,” Rockets coach Ime Udoka said. “And I think we did that for the most part. If you don’t turn it over and you want to get quality shots, whether it’s at the rim or 3-pointers, you have to take on that part. When the shots didn’t go… I think we started to hang our heads a little bit.”
“It’s a season-low 11 points in 26 minutes,” said Durant. “Our offense was getting away from creating wide open shots. We were creating good looks. That’s a make-or-break league.”
The Pelicans improved to 7-4 since the All-Star break with a 122-111 win over the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday. Dejounte Murray had an outstanding performance in his seventh game of an injury-plagued year with 27 points, five rebounds, six assists and two steals.
Not only has Murray injected an experienced veteran into the Pelicans’ rotation since returning from an Achilles injury, he’s also provided some leadership that his younger teammates can rally around.
“We’re trying to develop winning habits,” Murray said. “We’re not the No. 1 team in the West. We’re not a contender in the West, but what we can do is build winning habits and momentum in the offseason.
“… You have to start somewhere. … There’s nothing like building momentum going into the offseason.”
–Field level media
