Anticipating a late run into the postseason once again this year, the Houston Rockets opened up the 2015-16 NBA season at home against a Denver Nuggets squad that won 30 games last season. 

It stood to reason that Houston would have an easy time at it. 

That's until we realize Michael Malone's brand of Nuggets basketball is much different than we have seen over the past couple seasons. In his first year as the team's head coach, Malone is implementing an offense that takes into account the athleticism of his play-makers. 

This all came to fruition Wednesday night as Denver dominated the home team by the score of 105-85. 

The recently extended Danilo Gallinari led all Nuggets with 23 points while putting up eight rebounds and three blocks. Kenneth Faried, looking like a new player in Malone's system, added 18 points and nine boards on 8-of-10 shooting. Meanwhile, star rookie Emmanuel Mudiay put up 17 points and nine assists. 

Overall, Denver shot 51 percent from the field, including 13-of-27 from three-point range. 

Equally as important, Denver's defense used its athleticism ans quickness to completely shut down a Rockets team that was playing without Dwight Howard (suspension). Shortly after proclaiming himself to be the best player in the NBA, James Harden shot just 6-of-21 from the field en route to a substandard 22-point night. Trevor Ariza added a 2-of-10 night to the inept shooting while Corey Brewer shot just 2-of-12 from the field. 

All said, the Rockets shot 35 percent from the field, including 8-of-35 from three-point range. As we saw last season, this team relies a ton on the three. And when it's not falling for them, the Rockets are in trouble. 

Overreactions will be the theme of NBA's opening week. "Houston is in for a down season," some will say. Others will conclude that the Nuggets are going to be a surprise this year. 

While both may be true, one game in an 82-game slate means very little in the grand scheme of things. It is, however, a nice win for Malone in his first game as Denver's head coach. 

Game/Fantasy Notes

* Based on what we saw last season from Harden, he struggled a ton from a fantasy perspective. He put up just 46 points on Draftkings after averaging nearly 50 last year. 

* Mudiay's 17-point, nine-assist performance would have been stellar. Unfortunately, that's until we realize the rookie turned the ball over a whopping 11 times in the win. 

* Replacing Howard in the lineup, Clint Capela failed to hold his own. He put up just nine points and seven rebounds against a Nuggets team that went with a three-forward lineup. Despite attempting to match up against that small-ball lineup, the Rockets still played Capela 25 minutes in the game. 

* Making his Rockets debut against the team that traded him away during the summer, Ty Lawson was in no way impressive. He shot just 3-of-10 from the field with 12 points and six assists while turning the ball over three times.

* Former starter Patrick Beverley saw his numbers limited to 21 minutes with Lawson in the mix. He did, however, put up eight points and eight rebounds off the bench. 

* Denver's starting frontcourt of Faried, Gallinari and Joffrey Lauvergne combined for 52 points, 24 rebounds and seven blocks while shooting a whopping 63 percent from the field.