Rockets (24- 13) won three games in a row. Battier became the number one hero. He hit a wave of 7-0 in the fourth quarter, giving the Rockets a lead. In the last quarter, he scored 12 points, contributed 25 points and 7 rebounds, and made 5 of 9 3-pointers. T-Mac was not in good shape, and 17 shot only 5 shots and got 12 points, but he assisted1/kloc-0 times and grabbed 8 rebounds. Alston scored 15 and Hurd scored 15.
Nuggets (17- 17) lost two games in a row. Iverson scored 28 points, Blake 13 points and Camby grabbed 24 rebounds.
After the game started, the Rockets were in a bad state, but they competed with the Nuggets with excellent defense. With 4 minutes left in this section, the Rockets led by 13- 10, but Camby made up the basket and then made a free throw from inside to equalize the score. After the timeout, the Nuggets suddenly changed their defense, and the Rockets were caught off guard, making it difficult to break into the basket for a while. Iverson took advantage of the random steals and scored alone, with Nuggets 15- 13 leading. After the first quarter, the Rockets fell behind by 17-20.
The attack speed of the two teams accelerated in the second quarter, but the hit rate was not high. Hurd returned the favor after the Nuggets expanded their advantage by 30-24. Battier hit two consecutive three-pointers, and the Rockets overtook him 32-30. Hurd also hit a three-pointer with 2: 2 1 sec left in this section, and the Rockets took the lead again. McGrady was double-teamed, and he passed the ball to the basket. Unmarked Mutombo threw the ball easily, and the Rockets led 4 1-36. At half-time, the Rockets had a slight advantage of 44-4 1.
JR- Smith made two three-pointers in the third quarter, and the Nuggets passed 49-48. However, Alston immediately hit back, and the Rockets hit a wave of 10-0, and opened the score again with 58-49 when there were 5 minutes and 45 seconds left in this section. The Nuggets didn't score a point for nearly three minutes, but then they found the feeling and hit again and again. After three quarters, the score was 64-67.
Nuggets rookie diawara hit a three-pointer in the fourth quarter, and then he broke through the layup. After scoring five points in a row, the Nuggets overtook him 7 1-69. Since then, Blake also hit two three-pointers, and the Nuggets kept the lead. Camby not only controls the rebound, but also has a set of offensive skills. With 3 minutes and 59 seconds left in the game, he made a standing shot and the Nuggets expanded their advantage by 83-77.
Battier fouled outside the three-point line and made three key free throws. After he made two free throws, he narrowed the gap to 4 points. Then Iverson missed the shot and the Rockets launched a counterattack. Battier was unguarded on the outside and hit three points. Battier then scored again. After one scored seven points in a row, the Rockets overtook him 84-83.
Battier became more and more brave. After the Nuggets half-time, he made an offensive foul for diawara. After Alston also hit a goal, the Rockets hit a 9-0 attack wave, extending the advantage to 3 points. Iverson also claimed that after three minutes, there was 1 minute left in the game, and the two sides were tied.
After the time-out, Battier hit a three-pointer on the left side again, and the Rockets took the score back again. After that, although the Rockets missed the shot, the Nuggets didn't get three points. After the Rockets grabbed the rebound, Hurd made two free throws and sealed the victory.