HOUSTON — The Nuggets have the league’s attention, and now they want its respect.
The first-place Nuggets (26-11) entered Monday’s showdown against the Rockets riding a five-game winning streak. They’ve won 16 of their last 20 games, despite missing three starters for the majority of the stretch, and itap the latest in a season they’ve been in first since 1977.
Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni has maintained a healthy admiration for the Nuggets from afar, but he’s still conditioned to think the Warriors own the West.
“I think any time Golden State’s not at the top, it kind of surprises you,” D’Antoni said at Rockets shootaround Monday. “So yeah, to a certain extent, you knew (the Nuggets) were good. They’ve been good the last couple of years. Just by being in the West, they hadn’t made the playoffs. They keep getting better, keep getting more mature, have a lot of young players. (Jamal) Murray’s playing out of his mind, (Nikola) Jokic … So you kind of see they’re getting better. Being completely on top, I think thatap a surprise but you can understand why because they’re that good.”
Trailing the Nuggets are the Warriors (26-14), the Thunder (25-14), the Clippers (23-16) and then the Rockets (22-16), who’ve won eight of their last 10. Denver is a combined 4-2 against those teams heading into Monday’s tilt.
James Harden, who had 22 points and 11 assists in the Rockets’ win over the Nuggets earlier this season, has made it his responsibility to return the MVP trophy to Houston after he won it last year. Harden has averaged more than 41 points and nine assists in the seven games since Chris Paul went down with an injured hamstring. As a result, the Rockets have surged in the standings and looked every bit the contender they were last season when they fell to the Warriors in the conference finals.
D’Antoni said he was running out of ways to describe his franchise player.
“His read of the game and his ability just to be able to control the game is as good as anybody that I’ve ever seen,” he said.
With Paul and Eric Gordon both injured, Harden was able to commiserate with the Nuggets’ plight.
“They’re just doing better,” Harden said. “I think their main guys have just gotten better. Obviously Jokic is playing well, Jamal Murray has been exceptional as well. You’ve got other guys that are just playing extremely hard and complementing those guys. They’ve dealt with a lot of injuries as well. They’re just trying to figure their pieces out.”
