Rockets Snap Their Skid With a Gritty Win Over the Nuggets

The Houston Rockets snapped their two-game skid on Monday night with a 110-100 win over the Denver Nuggets at Toyota Center. Houston built a 19-point lead, watched Denver erase every bit of it in the third quarter and took control in the fourth.

Kevin Durant was unbelievable, nabbing the third double-double on the court. He finished with 23 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists and went a perfect 10-of-10 from the free throw line. Alperen Şengün matched him with 20 points, 12 boards and eight assists, while Nikola Jokić had 25 and 16 for Denver.

The whole first half, the Rockets looked like a well-oiled machine. Durant opened 4-of-4 from the field, the ball was swinging everywhere and Houston shot a 56.5-percent clip in the first quarter while hitting six of its 11 threes. Houston pushed the pace from the opening tip, and Denver plainly could not keep up.

Houston then opened the second quarter on an 11-0 run, capped by an Amen Thompson floater that pushed the lead to 19. Houston’s defense was suffocating, holding Denver to 4-of-18 from three, and Houston led 54-40 at the break.

For s good bit of the second half, it was as if that one basket had a lid on it. After they swapped  ends, the Rockets shot 7-of-26 in the third quarter and went 0-of-9 from deep in a stretch that started early in the second, and Denver ripped off an 18-2 run that ended with Jokić tying it at 60.

Partially thanks to the overaggressive Nuggets, free throws and defense kept Houston afloat. The Rockets went 8-of-8 at the line in the third, and steals from Marcus Smart and Tari Eason sparked a 6-0 burst to retake control. Denver turned it over 11 times through three quarters, and Smart's finger roll off a Durant feed sent Houston into the fourth up 77-68.

Jamal Murray did everything he could- and he’s the sole reason Monday night was as close as it was. He scored 15 in the fourth and finished with 38 on 14-of-23 shooting, while Marvin Bagley III gave Denver a double-big look that Houston had no real answer for with Clint Capela and Steven Adams still out.

But Şengün is the reason it didn't get away. He scored nine points with five assists in the fourth, including a left-handed dunk down the middle, a driving reverse layup with around four minutes left and a behind-the-back dish to Thompson that put Houston back up double digits. Reed Sheppard and Fred VanVleet added two fourth-quarter threes apiece.

Not surprisingly, the glass was the real difference. Houston won the rebounding battle 51-39 and turned 15 offensive boards into 24 second-chance points.

The Rockets had dropped five of their last six against Denver, per StatMuse, and they won the fourth quarter 33-32 after losing the final period in all three of their losses. That's a gritty win over a real contender, and Houston needed it.

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