Aaron Brooks had another great game for Houston, getting to the free throw line early and often
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Chauncey Billups is a profound leader for these Denver Nuggets.
With Adrian Dantley again heading the Nuggets’ bench, Chauncey took up the role of Big Shot Floor General in directing Denver through another treacherous road game.
Down by double-digits midway through the 3rd Quarter, Chauncey took charge. He orchestrated a forceful Nuggets comeback that culminated when Denver took its first lead with 4:05 left in the 3rd. Billups shouted instructions to his teammates (mostly the thick-skulled Johan Petro) occasionally taking it to the rim himself to drive home a point.
In a game dominated by the referees, the Nuggets put together an excellent game plan. Early on, it was Houston benefiting from a crew that called every contact. By the 4th Quarter, the Nuggets were driving through moving Rockets for big foul calls. But after giving up a 104-93 lead early in the 4th, the Nuggets had to work against both Houston’s aggressive defense and a biased officiating crew.
The Nuggets and Rockets each shot a solid 80% from the free-throw line, but it was the vast disparity in attempts that did the Nuggets in on Monday night in Houston.  The Rockets took 35 shots from the charity stripe while the Nuggets, despite an aggressive offensive game, only took 20. Worse, Chauncey got hit with so many ticky-tacky calls that he fouled out with 0:28 left in a game that came down to the final 3 seconds.
In the end, Billups’ commanding presence wasn’t enough to overcome the driven Rockets. Houston sits outside of the playoff field in the Western Conference by 5 games even with the tight win over Denver, and the Nuggets could afford to lose a game after a very successful road trip.
Still… it would have been nice to see Denver get a fair shake from the refs in Houston.  This has been a consistent problem over the last four years, and George Karl had to spinning in his armchair with frustration.
Carmelo Anthony paced all scorers with 45 points, including consistent production throughout the final quarter. Slashing, undersized Point Guard Aaron Brooks dropped 31 for the Rockets.
