David Adelman Points to Rebounding After Nuggets Fall to Rockets

The Denver Nuggets erased a 16-point second-half deficit Monday night in Houston. They tied the game midway through the third quarter, then spent the rest of the night chasing the Rockets again.

Jamal Murray scored 38 points in Denver’s 110-100 loss, including 15 in the fourth quarter. Nuggets head coach David Adelman pointed to Houston’s offensive rebounding, which gave the Rockets repeated chances to extend possessions after Denver had forced an initial miss.

“It killed us tonight,” Adelman told Denver Sports. “It’s the present day NBA, the modern NBA. A lot of these games are won off offensive rebounds and extra possessions.”

Houston grabbed 15 offensive rebounds, 12 of them after halftime, and outscored Denver 24-11 in second-chance points. The Rockets improved to 8-3, while the Nuggets fell to 5-4.

The Rockets led by as many as 19 in the first half and were ahead 58-42 in the third quarter. Nikola Jokić and Cameron Johnson hit consecutive 3-pointers to start an 18-2 Denver run, and Jokić tied the game at 60 with a layup.

Houston quickly regained control. Marcus Smart turned a steal into a Tari Eason layup, and Kevin Durant helped turn a defensive rebound into a transition dunk for Jabari Smith Jr.

The Rockets took a 77-68 lead into the fourth quarter, leaving Denver to put together another rally. Murray kept scoring, but Houston hit six of its 11 3-point attempts in the final period, with Reed Sheppard, Smith and Fred VanVleet all connecting from deep.

Denver’s third-quarter run showed how quickly its offense could close the gap when Jokić and Murray got going together. Houston’s response exposed the other side of that comeback. Once the Nuggets tied it, they needed a stretch of clean defensive possessions to give their offense a chance to take the lead.

Jokić finished with 25 points and 16 rebounds, joining Murray as the only Nuggets in double figures. Johnson, Christian Braun and Aaron Gordon combined for 15 points on 5-for-19 shooting.

Houston had five players reach double figures, led by Durant’s 23 points and Alperen Şengün’s 20. That balance gave the Rockets several ways to answer when Murray got hot in the fourth.

The rebounding margin made Denver’s reliance on its top two scorers harder to overcome. Every offensive board gave Houston another opportunity to score and delayed the next possession for Murray or Jokić, a costly trade for a team playing from behind.

Denver heads to Memphis on Wednesday after seeing its two-game winning streak end. The Nuggets had enough scoring to wipe out Houston’s lead once, but the Rockets kept getting another shot at the possessions Denver needed to finish.