Denver Nuggets: 3 Ways They Finally Beat the Houston Rockets

Denver Nuggets(Photo by Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images)
Denver Nuggets(Photo by Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Denver Nuggets
Denver Nuggets (Photo by Bart Young/NBAE via Getty Images) /

What an incredible find for Tim Connelly.

While this is about Monte Morris, I want to take a minute to point out that Nuggets GM Tim Connelly has managed to score Morris and Nikola Jokic in the second-round.  He also picked Vlatko Cancar in the second, a player that appears to also have a very big upside.

Denver Nuggets
Denver Nuggets /

Denver Nuggets

That Morris survived until the 51st pick seems absurd, considering how polished and ready a player he’s been for the Nuggets.  Second in the NBA in assist-to-turnover ratio is a big deal for a team that’s historically struggled with ball security.

Monte scored 18 points for the Nuggets on 7/11 shooting.  He was 3-for-6 from deep and those three makes were daggers for the Rockets.  Monte came up big repeatedly for the Nuggets, grabbing six rebounds handing out eight assists and coming up with two big steals.

It would feel like a breakout game for Morris if he wasn’t so steady over the course of the season.  Even in a shooting slump, Morris is productive and integral to Denver’s success.  It’s hard to call him a surprise, he had a solid career at Iowa State and earned preseason All-American honors preceding his Senior season.

Morris was part of the trio of defenders tasked with covering Harden and he, too made quite the impact on the MVP.  Again, Harden is other-worldly but he’s human and his frustration was noticeable.  He handled it gracefully but at least for one night, the Nuggets had his number.

The final player on the list was the man of the night: