Mercifully for the Nuggets, they don’t have to play the Rockets anymore.
Four matchups in the first 23 games of the season? That’s more than enough. Three was enough. But in one last clash added to the schedule a week ago after they were eliminated from the in-season tournament, the Nuggets sputtered on offense for a half and defense for one quarter in a 114-106 loss to Houston on Friday night at Ball Arena.
Denver (14-9) trailed 103-78 with 8:26 remaining but mounted a miraculous 18-0 run to get within seven with three minutes remaining. The Nuggets had the ball with a chance to cut it to five, but Alperen Sengun’s chippy defense against Nikola Jokic forced a turnover with 2:32 left.