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Rockets-Nuggets Preview

Dec 16, 2009 - 6:36 AM By BRETT HUSTON STATS Writer

Houston (14-10) at Denver (18-7), 9:00 p.m. EDT

The Denver Nuggets had their 17-game regular-season home winning streak snapped last month with a loss George Karl referred to as an "embarrassment," but his team has since returned to its successful ways at the Pepsi Center.

The Houston Rockets, one of the few teams to win in Denver last season, have Tracy McGrady back for at least limited playing time as they look to defeat the Nuggets for a fourth consecutive time Wednesday night.

Denver made the Pepsi Center an extremely difficult place to visit toward the end of last season, when it won its final 10 home games and its first six in the mile-high air during the playoffs before succumbing to the eventual champion Los Angeles Lakers.

The Nuggets (18-7) then won their first seven at home this season, but a 106-100 loss Nov. 29 to lowly Minnesota enraged Karl, prompting him to call out his team for not playing hard and say the lack of effort was "making me very angry."

They've won four straight home games since, by an average of 15.2 points. Carmelo Anthony has scored at least 30 in the last two, and the league's leading scorer had 31 on Monday in a 102-93 victory over Oklahoma City.

"The last couple of seasons, the home court's been good to us," Anthony said after Denver moved to 9-7 when he scores 30 or more. "After going through the run we did last year, realizing how important home court is, that was one of our main focuses coming into this season. It's a little more focused."

Anthony was hardly dominant versus Houston (14-10) last season, averaging 15.0 points in three games and missing another with a fractured right hand. The Rockets won the last three meetings with Denver, including a 97-95 victory at the Pepsi Center on March 9.

McGrady played in just one of those wins, but he was instrumental. McGrady had 20 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists in the Rockets' 108-96 victory on Dec. 16, his fourth career triple-double.

He played in 17 games after that before opting to have season-ending microfracture surgery on his left knee. While McGrady had lobbied to play during this season's first six weeks, coach Rick Adelman didn't let him make his 2009-10 debut until Tuesday against Detroit.

With Trevor Ariza serving a one-game suspension, rookie Chase Budinger started and McGrady came off the bench. Luis Scola and Aaron Brooks had 23 points apiece in Houston's 107-96 win while McGrady had three points in seven minutes, but the talk was all about the two-time NBA scoring champion.

"It's been so long since I've played, it was just a great feeling to be back on the court," McGrady said. "Just to get up and down the court with these guys and to be back out there competing is what I missed. To have that back, finally, and feel good and have fun doing it, there's nothing better."

Adelman said he'll play McGrady for about the same length of time at Denver.

"He knows how to play the game, it's the little things, like when he took it to the basket and got fouled," Adelman said. "Those are the types of things we are looking for and his continued effort on the defensive end."

Ariza averaged 12.3 points while helping the Lakers eliminate Denver in six games last spring, but the Nuggets will likely want to be more mindful of where Brooks is Wednesday. The speedy guard averaged 15.3 points against Denver last season, and has scored at least 20 in six of his last eight games overall.