The Denver Nuggets are playing without Arron Afflalo and Nene tonight against the Houston Rockets, but through one quarter, they certainly seem like they can still compete with Houston. Denver leads the Rockets 28-26 after one quarter.
Eight Denver players scored in the first quarter, including rarely used guard Julyan Stone and rookie forward Kenneth Faried, each thurst into the starting lineup when coach George Karl chose to keep his bench rotation as is. Forward Danilo Gallinari leads Denver with eight points on 3-of-6 shooting. Ty Lawson and Al Harrington each added five points.
Power forward Luis Scola is leading the Rockets with nine points on 3-of-7 shooting. Starting guard Kyle Lowry has seven points and two rebounds.
Denver is shooting 14-of-24 from the field (58.3 percent). Houston is shooting 10-of-27 (37 percent). Denver out-rebounded the Rockets 14-10.
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