Nuggets fall 110-100 in Houston as Murray and Jokic get little help against Durant's Rockets
Jamal Murray scored 38 and Nikola Jokic had 25 and 16, but no other Nugget reached 10 points as Houston won 110-100. Denver falls to 5-4.
The Denver Nuggets fell into a 14-point hole by halftime in Houston on Monday night and spent the rest of the game unable to get out of it. The Rockets won 110-100 to end a two-game losing streak, with Kevin Durant scoring 23 points and Alperen Sengun adding 20, according to ESPN. Denver's two-game winning streak ended, and the team is now 5-4.
Jamal Murray scored 38 points and Nikola Jokic had 25 points, 16 rebounds and eight assists, but Houston held every other Denver player under 10 points, as Sports Illustrated noted. The Denver Gazette had Cam Johnson as Denver's third-leading scorer with eight points. Aaron Gordon, still struggling early in the season, finished with three points and three turnovers in more than 30 minutes.
Houston pulled away early. The Rockets led 32-24 after one quarter and 54-40 at the half, and Durant did much of the damage in the opening minutes. Denver won the second half 60-56 and got close late. Four quick points from Murray, one set up by a Sengun turnover, cut the lead to four with under seven minutes to play. Sengun answered with a short basket, and a Fred VanVleet 3-pointer made it 96-87 with about five and a half minutes left. Denver never threatened again.
The box score at CBS Sports shows where the game went wrong. Denver made only 8 of 29 3-pointers and 18 of 25 free throws. Houston had 15 offensive rebounds to Denver's seven and 29 assists to Denver's 20. Sengun finished with 20 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists, and the Rockets improved to 8-3. Sports Illustrated also pointed to the short stretches Jokic spent on the bench. Through eight games, Denver had been nearly even in those minutes, but Houston won them on Monday, while the Nuggets outscored the Rockets with Jokic on the floor in the middle quarters.
What it means for Memphis
The Nuggets have alternated wins and losses all season. Two straight wins over Toronto and Indiana had lifted them to 5-3, their best mark so far, and Monday's loss pulled them back to 5-4. They are 3-2 over their last five games. Over nine games they have scored 1,022 points and allowed 1,015, about 113.6 points a game against 112.8, so their point differential is barely positive for a team with Denver's expectations.
The four losses have a pattern. Denver has lost to Oklahoma City, Golden State, Portland and now Houston, and in three of those games the opponent scored 110 or more. The 134 points Golden State put up remain the most Denver has allowed this season. The wins have mostly come from the offense: Denver has scored 114 or more in four of its five wins, including 141 in a win over New Orleans.
Denver plays at Memphis on Wednesday, November 11, its second road game in three days. The question from Houston is whether anyone besides Murray and Jokic can score. With Gordon struggling and the rest of the rotation combining for little offense, the Nuggets have relied heavily on their two stars, and a third scorer would ease that load in Memphis.