Nuggets fight but eventually fall to James Harden, Rockets

The Denver Nuggets came into their road matchup with the Houston in desperate need of a win. The Nuggets were coming off of a victory after a shootout win in the Big Easy against the New Orleans Pelicans that ended with a score of 134-131.

Sitting just a half-game back of the Portland Trail Blazers with just five games remaining, a win was paramount. Instead, Denver fell late and eventually lost 110-104.

The game started with Nikola Jokic doing Jokic things and finishing the first frame with four points, three rebounds, and two assists. While Denver’s offense was explosive for half of the first quarter, their lackadaisical defense bled into the rest of their game. The Nuggets went cold and Denver allowed the Rockets to shoot 65 percent from the field and 5-10 from three-point distance. James Harden had nine points and six assists in the first quarter alone and was slicing the Denver defense to pieces.

Denver ended up going into the second quarter with a 36-25 deficit and in dire need of injecting some defense into the game. Not only were they unable to force missed shots but they were fouling at an alarming rate allowing six free throw attempts in the first quarter alone.

The start of the second quarter was survival for Denver. They got blitzed by the Rockets as their offense went ice cold without Jokic on the court. Jamal Murray and Emmanuel Mudiay were ice cold throughout their first stint alongside one another and Denver ended up being down as much as 16 points before The starters were reinserted.

Denver found life when their starters returned and found a way to inject defense back into the game. The Rockets shot just 9-27 from the field and 0-7 from three-point distance as they cut their deficit to just seven points. Harden then took Wilson Chandler off the dribble and hit a jumper to finish the first half and Denver went into halftime down 59-50.

Jokic added six points, 10 rebounds, and four assists in the first half while Danilo Gallinari poured in 13 points of his own. Harden had 11 points and six rebounds but also had three turnovers in the first half to lead the Rockets. Denver went into halftime down 59-50.

As the second half started Denver turned up the pressure. After a slew of missed shots from the Rockets paired with Denver draining shots of their own and suddenly the Rockets lead was just two points and all of the momentum has flipped to the Nuggets side. Jokic was a monster on the boards and was either keeping possessions alive or ending defensive possessions with a defensive rebound. He finished the night an assist shy of a triple-double with 12 points, 19 rebounds, and nine assists.

Denver’s defensive intensity remained high as Jameer Nelson contributed back-to-back threes. Then, Harris had six straight points by himself and Denver’s deficit turned into a lead of two. The Nuggets fought back valiantly they still ended up going into the final quarter down 85-79 after giving up a 7-0 run. Troy Williams put an explanation mark on the third quarter with this monstrous put-back slam over Mason Plumlee.

Troy Williams trying to end Mason Plumlee's career pic.twitter.com/U1vnkCSuSH

— Harrison Wind (@HarrisonWind) April 6, 2017

The fourth quarter saw Denver get to within a bucket or two but the Nuggets just weren’t unable to connect on that one big shot. Denver was always within arms reach but could never get over the hump and take the lead. They fought and stayed within four points for the majority of the final quarter until Harden hit a three with 56.4 seconds remaining to give Houston the five-point lead.

Denver finished 19-50 on uncontested jumpers, per NBA.com and went 0-9 from distance in the fourth quarter. The game can really be summed up by the Nuggets not being able to get the ball inbounds with 56.4 seconds remaining and not using one of their three timeouts at the time. That ultimately lost them the game 110-104.

Denver played with a sense of urgency but Harden’s 31 points, seven rebounds, and 10 assists were too much to overcome and now have to win out to give themselves a shot at the playoffs. Denver loses three straight times to the Rockets by a total of just 11 points and falls a full game behind the Trail Blazers for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Footnotes

Nelson (right calf strain) returned to the starting lineup and Murray was sent back into a bench role. Nelson finished with eight points and five assists. Murray had eight points and four assists while Mudiay contributed six points, six rebounds and three assists of his own.

Faried (low back tightness) started at power forward after leaving the game against the Pelicans Tuesday at halftime. He finished with 10 points and four rebounds.

Will Barton (left foot soreness) missed his fourth consecutive game.

What’s Next

Denver finally returns home after a five-game road trip to take on the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday night in a must-win game.