Rockets outlast Nuggets

Basketball Betting Lines

02/07/2012 - Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Luis Scola scored 25 points to go with eight rebounds while Kyle Lowry added 20 points and six assists as the Houston Rockets downed the Denver Nuggets, 99-90.

Chase Budinger nailed four treys and finished with 16 points for the Rockets, who made 10-of-19 shots from beyond the arc. Houston has won two of its last three games.

Danilo Gallinari had 14 points to lead Denver before exiting with a left ankle injury. According to the Nuggets' Twitter account, x-rays on his ankle revealed a chip fracture. He will undergo a CT scan on Tuesday.

The Nuggets have lost three straight and five of six. Denver turned the ball over 20 times, made just 3-of-22 attempts from beyond the arc and missed 14 foul shots.

With the Rockets holding a 94-86 advantage with 2:53 to play, the Nuggets reeled off the next four points off a Kosta Koufous dunk and a pair of Rudy Fernandez free throws.

Al Harrington was fouled following an offensive rebound putback with 1:21 to play, but failed to maintain the momentum when he missed both foul shots.

Budinger nailed a three-pointer from the right corner at the other end to essentially put the game away with a minute left as the Rockets took a 97-90 lead.

Gallinari netted eight first-quarter points as the Nuggets led, 28-26, after one, but the Rockets took a 47-45 lead into the locker room as Scola poured in 16 first-half points.

Gallinari's injury came with 9:38 left in the third. From the left wing, he drove into the paint and appeared to go for a pull-up jumper. He rolled his left ankle badly and was fouled by Chandler Parsons on the play. Gallinari stayed in the contest and made both foul shots before exiting.

"It's tough to see him go down, he's a tough player," Denver point guard Ty Lawson said.

The Rockets took a 73-71 lead into the fourth thanks to a Budinger trey at the buzzer.

Game Notes

The Rockets scored 17 points off turnovers...Harrington finished with 12 points and 15 rebounds...The Nuggets held a 50-22 edge in the paint...There were 20 lead changes in the contest.

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Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

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