NUGGETS PROBABLE STARTERS POS. NO. PLAYER HEIGHT WEIGHT PPG RPG APG NOTABLE F 43 Linas Kleiza 6-8, 245 5.0 2.9 0.5 Had 12 points (4-7 FG, 2-3 3FG, 2-2 FT) in 22 minutes vs. Cleveland on 1/19. F 30 Reggie Evans 6-8, 245 6.5 8.4 0.8 Posted eight points (4-7 FG), seven boards and two assists in 22 minutes vs. Cleveland on 1/19. C 23 Marcus Camby 6-11, 235 12.0 12.3 3.0 Recorded his 17th double-double of the season with a season-high 26 points and 17 rebounds against the Cavs. G 3 Allen Iverson 6-0, 165 29.3 2.7 7.4 Scored 25 points (9-10 FT) to go along with nine assists and three rebounds in 43 minutes vs. Cleveland on 1/19. G 25 Steve Blake 6-3, 172 4.6 1.5 2.8 Started for the second-straight game posting six points, five assists and three steals vs. Cleveland on 1/19. ROCKETS PROBABLE STARTERS No. Name............. Pos. Ht. Wt. PPG RPG APG 31 Shane Battier... F/G 6-8 220. 10.8 4.4 2.5 5 Juwan Howard....... F 6-9 253.. 8.9 6.0 1.3 55 Dikembe Mutombo C 7-2 260.. 2.9 6.4 0.2 2 Luther Head....... G/F 6-3 185. 11.1 3.7 2.4 12 Rafer Alston........ G 6-2 175. 13.9 3.5 5.1 NUGGETS RED CROSS REPORT OUT: Kenyon Martin underwent successful surgery on his right knee on 11/15 and will miss the remainder of the season. PROBABLE: Eduardo Najera suffered a left shoulder contusion vs. Milwaukee on 1/8 and considered probable for tonight’s game … Nen? has appeared in each of the last seven games after missing four games due to right knee inflammation. He is considered probable … Marcus Camby has played in five-straight games after missing one game due to a right hand/wrist sprain. His status is currently probable … Allen Iverson had x-rays taken on his right foot big toe on 1/8, which came up negative. He is probable for tonight’s game. ROCKETS RED CROSS REPORT Tracy McGrady (sore lower back), Bob Sura (knee/back) and Yao Ming (small fracture on right anterior medial tibial plateau). TONIGHT'S MATCHUP BY THE NUMBERS KEY FOR TEAM STATISTICS: PPG Points Per Game (measures offense) OPG Opponents Points Per Game (measures defense) FG% % of All Shots Made (2's and 3's) 3PT% % of 3-Point Shots Made FT% % of Free Throws Made RPG Rebounds Per Game APG Assists Per Game SPG Steals Per Game BPG Blocks Per Game TO Turnovers Per Game ...............PPG.. OPG.. FG% 3PT% FT% RPG APG. SPG. BPG.. TO NUGGETS 104.9 103.0 .453.. .317 .753. 44.7 23.1 8.67 4.67 16.9 ROCKETS.. 95.6 90.5. .440.. .366 .752. 44.1 20.2 7.08 4.68 15.1
Prediction: Houston 100 Denver 94 It is pretty rare for an unrested road team to beat a rested home team. However, if Blake and J.R. can get 5 or more 3-pointers between them, and if Camby were to get his blocks and score at least 15, and if the forwards (Nene, Najera, Evans, and Kleiza) could play almost as well as they did against the Cavs, then the Nuggets could steal this game.
I am just going to ruin it even more for you guys. <u>Rockets Hopeful McGrady Will Play Against Nuggets</u> <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The Houston Rockets have a hard time winning without Tracy McGrady. They hope to have their injured All-Star back as they host the Denver Nuggets on Saturday. McGrady missed Wednesday's 100-91 loss to Phoenix with stiffness in his lower back. While he's listed as day-to-day, he expects to be back on the court to face the Nuggets. "I'm not concerned about my back at all," McGrady said on Wednesday. "It tightened on me last night and we're just taking the precaution to not go out and try to rush back. I have a few days to rest, get some treatment and I'll be back Saturday." McGrady scored a season-high 45 points in a 109-96 loss to Dallas on Tuesday, but left the game with 2:14 remaining. He's missed parts of the last two seasons dealing with back spasms and currently receives treatment to alleviate his back problems. Wednesday's injury isn't related to those problems, which caused him to miss 35 games last season. Houston (25-15) is already without center Yao Ming, out since Dec. 23 after breaking a bone under his right knee. Led by McGrady, the Rockets had won nine of 10 in his absence before the back-to-back losses. He was averaging 28.7 points in that span, capped by the performance against Dallas. Without McGrady, the Rockets haven't been as fortunate, going just 2-6 in his absence this season and 7-28 in 2005-06. Houston played hard against the Suns, but couldn't pull out a victory and have lost consecutive games to the NBA's two best teams. "People's roles change," said Rockets point guard Rafer Alston, who matched a career high with 29 points against Phoenix. "You might have a guy we need to set picks and rebound, but now we might need that guy to pump in 10 or 15 points. All of a sudden, you have to readjust your mind-set. You have to be up to the challenge." Houston beat Denver 90-86 on the road last Friday and has won three straight over the Nuggets. McGrady had only 12 points on 5-for-17 shooting but Shane Battier scored 25 points and Luther Head had 15 off the bench. The Rockets have won eight of the last 10 meetings at home over Denver. The Nuggets (19-17) have won consecutive games for the first time this month, beating Portland 109-93 on Sunday, then beating Cleveland 110-99 on Friday. Marcus Camby had a season-high 26 points and 17 rebounds and Allen Iverson added 25 points for Denver, which welcomes back Carmelo Anthony in its next game on Jan. 22 against Memphis. Anthony was suspended 15 games for his role in a brawl with the New York Knicks on Dec. 16 and the Nuggets have gone 6-8 without the NBA's leading scorer in the lineup. The Nuggets hadn't won consecutive games since beating Boston and Seattle from Dec. 26-28, and they nearly gave away Friday's game, as the Cavaliers cut Denver's 25-point third-quarter lead to five late in the fourth quarter before the Nuggets put away the game. "We'll take it," Iverson said. "By 50 points or a point, we'll take it. If we'd have lost, it would have been bad. I like the results we had." The Nuggets had lost four of their previous five road games before beating Portland. </div> Source
