The Houston Rockets host the Denver Nuggets in the opening game of the 2015-2016 season for both teams.
The Rockets are coming off a season in which they won the Southwest Division and advanced all the way to the Conference Finals. The Nuggets, on the other hand, finished 12th in the Conference and 4th place in the Northwest Division.
While many, including Vegas, are picking the Nuggets to be a trainwreck this season, I don’t see them being that bad. They return their starting five(a healthy starting five) aside from Ty Lawson, who is now in Houston, and Lawson was replaced by a potential future superstar in Emmanual Mudiay, the seventh pick in this years NBA draft. Danilo Galinari and Wilson Chandler could cause problems for the Rockets, but they both would need to have huge games in order to pull off the upset.
The Rockets starting five will feature the newly acquired Ty Lawson, along with incumbent James Harden, who is coming off what many believe was an MVP season. Lawson will be itching to make a strong statement against his former team, so don’t be surprised if he has a big game.
If this game comes down to the benches, The Rockets have a big advantage. Daryl Morey has done a great job of creating a Houston team with great depth. Because of the addition of Lawson, Patrick Beverley will now come off of the bench. He will join Corey Brewer, Sam Dekker, Motrezl Harrell, Jason Terry, and Marcus Thorton to form one of the more talented second units in the NBA. The Nuggets bench features Randy Foye and Darrell Arthur, and not much else.
KEY TO THE GAME: Dwight Howard is suspended for this game due to an accumulation of flagrant fouls in the playoffs a year ago, so Clint Capela will be thrust into a starting spot for the opener. Capela has shown flashes, and does a lot of the same things that Dwight does offensively, and is getting there defensively. Terrence Jones will have to deal with the Manimal, Kenneth Faried, but he is really the Nuggets only threat down low. If Faried can be kept at bay on the offensive glass, this game could be over early. Houston might also have some issues defending Emmanual Mudiay, who is 6′ 5″. This could cause problems for Ty Lawson and Patrick Beverley, but likely not enough to be cause for concern for the final outcome of the game.
The fact that the Rockets are at home, as well as being a deeper team, will be too much to handle for the young Nuggets team. Look for the Rockets to win by more than 10. Game Prediction: Rockets 104-Nuggets 90.