Belt game 3,702 · December 1, 1987
Houston Rockets take the belt
Houston Rockets beat Denver Nuggets 106–101 at home to start reign 1,661 of the NBA belt, the 40th for the franchise.
Denver Nuggets had held it since November 28, 1987, with 0 defenses over 3 days.
Houston Rockets held it for 1 days and 0 defenses, then lost it to San Antonio Spurs on December 2, 1987.
1,661Reign number
40Team's reign
0Defenses
1Days held
Box score
Houston Rockets
| Player | MIN | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | FG | 3P | FT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hakeem Olajuwon | 30 | 22 | 14 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 10-18 | 0-0 | 2-7 |
| Ralph Sampson | 41 | 20 | 17 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 7-14 | 0-0 | 6-10 |
| Purvis Short | 36 | 19 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 8-13 | 0-0 | 3-4 |
| Rodney McCray | 31 | 14 | 6 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 6-11 | 0-0 | 2-3 |
| Allen Leavell | 20 | 12 | 1 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 4-10 | 0-0 | 4-4 |
| Jim Petersen | 32 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4-8 | 0-0 | 0-0 |
| Lester Conner | 22 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2-3 | 0-0 | 0-0 |
| Richard Anderson | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1-1 | 1-1 | 0-0 |
| World Free | 9 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1-4 | 0-1 | 0-0 |
| Cedric Maxwell | 14 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 |
| Buck Johnson | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 |
| Steve Harris | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 |
Denver Nuggets
| Player | MIN | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | FG | 3P | FT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alex English | 30 | 26 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 11-27 | 0-0 | 4-4 |
| Blair Rasmussen | 34 | 25 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 12-18 | 0-0 | 1-2 |
| Lafayette Lever | 42 | 16 | 10 | 10 | 5 | 1 | 6-19 | 0-1 | 4-5 |
| Michael Adams | 30 | 12 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5-7 | 1-1 | 1-4 |
| Wayne Cooper | 30 | 10 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3-11 | 0-0 | 4-4 |
| Dan Schayes | 14 | 6 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2-5 | 0-0 | 2-2 |
| Bill Hanzlik | 28 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1-9 | 0-4 | 2-2 |
| Jay Vincent | 8 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1-4 | 0-0 | 0-0 |
| T.R. Dunn | 24 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 |
Player box scores: Historical NBA Data and Player Box Scores by Eoin Moore (CC0).