Houston’s fast start, Denver’s 18-2 answer
The Houston Rockets snapped a two-game skid on Monday night with a 110-100 win over the Denver Nuggets, and they needed their fourth-quarter shooting to get it. Kevin Durant finished with 23 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists, while Alperen Sengun added 20 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists.
The Rockets hit 6 of 11 threes in the first quarter and led 32-24 after Tari Eason knocked down a corner three in transition, then another just before the buzzer. They stretched a 14-0 run into a 19-point lead, and Nikola Jokic’s floater cut it to 52-40 with 1:34 left in the first half.
Denver did not go away. After Jokic and Cameron Johnson hit back-to-back threes, the Nuggets ripped off an 18-2 run that erased a 58-42 deficit. Jokic tied it at 60-60 with a layup at the 5:04 mark of the third.
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Defense steadies the middle quarters
Houston’s answer was to defend. Marcus Smart picked off a pass at midcourt and set up an Eason layup, Durant turned a defensive rebound into a transition dunk for Jabari Smith Jr., and an Eason steal produced two Durant free throws. The Rockets took a 77-68 lead into the fourth.
They had struggled from deep for a long stretch, but the fourth quarter fixed that. Reed Sheppard, Smith and Fred VanVleet each hit a timely three, and Houston went 6 of 11 from behind the arc in the period. Smith finished with 14 points and seven rebounds, with VanVleet and Eason scoring 12 apiece.
Murray and Jokic carry the Nuggets
Jamal Murray led all scorers with 38 points, 15 of them in the fourth quarter. Jokic produced 25 points, a game-high 16 rebounds and nine assists. Those two were the only Nuggets in double figures, and that lack of support was the difference once Houston’s threes started dropping again.
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