Harden, Rockets continue dominance over Nuggets

HOUSTON — Superman has kryptonite. The Nuggets have the Houston Rockets.

Behind 32 points from Most Valuable Player candidate James Harden, the Rockets beat the Nuggets 125-113. It’s the ninth-straight Nuggets loss to the Rockets. Denver hasn’t won in Houston since Oct. 28, 2015.

After a back and forth first two quarter, Houston grabbed the momentum right before halftime thanks to a Harden flurry. Harden tallied  14 points in the final four minutes of the second quarter. The momentum turner was when Harden sent Jamal Murray to the deck only for Murray to recover and foul Harden on a three-point attempt resulting in a four-point play.

Denver’s bench trimmed Houston’s double-digit advantage to six points in the fourth quarter, but the Rockets never cooled off from beyond the arc. As a team, Houston shot 22-47 from three.

Nikola Jokic led the Nuggets with 24 points, 13 rebounds and four assists but committed eight turnovers. As a team, Denver gave the ball away 14 times leading to 19 Rockets points. Clint Capela added 31 points on 13-18 shooting and nine rebounds for Houston.

Denver travels to Miami for a back-to-back Tuesday night.