The Denver Nuggets went on the road to face four playoff teams without Nikola Jokic and came away with two wins, finishing off the week with a 116-111 victory against the Houston Rockets on Sunday thanks to a huge effort from Jamal Murray.
The Nuggets star guard poured in 39 points and added seven helpers as the Nuggets ended a nine-game Rockets win streak. The win pushes Denver (45-27) just a game behind Houston (46-26) for second place in the West. Each team has 13 games left and they will play one another on the final day of the NBA season. It’s now all in the Nuggets hands, who have a five-game homestand starting Monday, to earn the No. 2 seed in the West.
“Night and day, I could feel it. I could, all night long, from the beginning of the game to the end,” Michael Malone said of the effort. “That team, they just won nine games in a row. And I think you look at this season, I think it’s probably the fourth or fifth team that had long winning streaks that we were able to take down. And we all understood the importance of this game to try to salvage his road trip to go 500 against some really good teams. Houston is in front of us. We’re one-to-one with one game remaining.”
Without Jokic, Denver was able to put up their most points of the trip against the league’s third-best defense this season. Even struggling from the free throw line a bit at 69%, Denver rode 10 threes on 21 attempts and only nine turnovers to stop the Rockets streak. While Houston only had six turnovers, the Nuggets killed in transition with 14 fastbreak points to the foes’ none.
“When you play with that kind of physicality, urgency, you’re disciplined and execute, you give yourselves a chance. On top of that, Jamal Murray was special tonight,” Malone said. “We got contributions from everybody. Just a different team. And if we can find a way to be that team every night, I really like our chances.”
The biggest chance for the Nuggets was DeAndre Jordan getting his first run in three weeks, joining the starting lineup and leading the Nuggets by snagging 15 rebounds. The Rockets are the best rebounding team in the NBA, and Denver only lost the boards by two 45-43. Jordan also scored 11 points on seven shots and added four assists. Malone mentioned he was considering playing DJ in Portland on Friday but changed his mind when the Blazers announced some late injuries. The Nuggets are now 2-1 when Jordan starts and 32-15 when he plays, a secret weapon for the playoffs perhaps.
All of Aaron Gordon, Christian Braun, Peyton Watson and Michael Porter were very additive in the game. Where Jalen Green did score 30, he took 22 shots and Alperen Sengun’s triple-double was rather ineffective. Dillion Brooks kept the Rockets alive, helping them battle back from an 18-point Nuggets lead in the third but Denver cut him off at 21 points.
“Our guys battled, they just gave everything they had, and as a coach, that’s all you can ever ask for,” Malone said. “We’re gonna make mistakes. I don’t want a perfect team. I am far from perfect, but what I do want is a team that is committed to one another and just leaves it all out there. And we did that today for 48 minutes, and we’re able to take down the number two team in the West, and proud of our guys for that
So the Nuggets return home to host the Bulls on Monday, a middling team who seeks a third-straight win against a West playoff team after beating the Kings and Lakers on the road. Fighting for play-in positioning they’re 7-2 in their last nine and will certainly have some confidence. Malone shared that Jokic is expected to return during this coming run of home games but that doesn’t mean it will be against Chicago. The Nuggets have a much tougher Bucks team on Wednesday but don’t face another West playoff team until Minnesota visits Denver on April 1.
