A lot was asked of Spencer Jones in the Nuggets' 128-125 win over the Houston Rockets on Monday, and the 24-year-old delivered.
The Denver Nuggets faced an early curveball in Monday’s 128-125 overtime win over the Houston Rockets, but it didn’t deter them from earning an impressive win over a hard-nosed team that will almost surely be a factor in the Western Conference playoffs.
That curveball was a first-quarter injury to two-way starting win Peyton Watson, which the team later determined to be a right trunk contusion. With Watson, who was the primary defender on Kevin Durant, out of the game so early, the Nuggets were left to rely on backup Spencer Jones to play a season-high 40 minutes and keep KD at bay while also contributing offensively.
It wasn’t a perfect night for Jones, but it was good enough to help push the Nuggets across the finish line for their fifth win in a row and their sixth in their last seven games. Jones tallied 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting offensively while also recording an impressive five stocks (two steals and three blocks) on the defensive end.
Following the game, Jones described the challenges of playing 40 minutes against a team known for their physicality in the Houston Rockets and made it clear that he’ll be feeling the aftereffects of his long night at the office.
“Probably going to be limping home for a little bit,” Jones said. “Definitely feel it in my calves and hammies. I mean, look that team is one of the most physical teams in the league. They crash everybody. They're the biggest team in the league and they win a lot of games because of their offensive rebounds.”
Collision Course
Because of how physical the Rockets are when boxing out for rebounds, Jones emphasized that every time you crash the glass against them, you have to initiate a collision or be the one who gets collided into. Neither are necessarily fun, but one the former certainly puts you in a better position for the board than the latter. And that physicality was the difference on Monday.
“Every time a shot goes up, you got to hit somebody, or else they're getting the ball,” Jones aid So it's just tons of collisions, tons of fouls this game and everything like that. Definitely feel that a little bit after, but it's part of the game.”
Watson is questionable for Thursday’s game against the Orlando Magic, so it’s entirely possible that Jones will be given a similar workload against the Orlando Magic’s multi-faceted offense.