NBA

Denver Nuggets at Houston Rockets

· National Basketball Association
45-27, 22-16 Away
Final
116 - 111

46-26, 26-11 Home

Jamal Murray scores 39 points to lift Denver to 116-111 win over Houston

Denver Nuggets vs. Houston Rockets: Game Highlights

Murray, who scored 17 in the first half, had 17 in the third quarter as Denver outscored the Rockets 39-22 in the quarter to take a 96-79 lead.

Russell Westbrook had 14 points off the bench, Aaron Gordon scored 13 points with eight assists and DeAndre Jordan had 11 points and 15 rebounds for the Nuggets, which shot 51% and were 10 of 21 on 3-pointers.

Jalen Green scored 30 points, and Dillon Brooks added 21 points for Houston. Alperen Sengun had 17 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists, and Steven Adams finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds for the Rockets, which shot 44% and were 11 of 34 from behind the arc.

Trailing 109-100 with 1 ½ minutes left, Houston used a 7-1 run to cut the lead to three on a Sengun layup with 21 seconds left, but Christian Braun made two free throws with 19 seconds remaining to push the lead back to five.

Takeaways Nuggets: Nikola Jokic missed his fourth straight game with left ankle impingement, and Denver improved to 2-2 with him out of the lineup.

Rockets: Houston remains in second place in the Western Conference with 10 games left, but the Nuggets closed to within a game of Houston.

Key moment Sengun made one of two free throws with 14 seconds remaining, and Murray made two free throws two seconds later to push the lead to 114-108.

Key stat Houston finished 22 of 34 from the free throw line, while Denver made 18 of 26.

Up next Denver hosts the Chicago Bulls on Monday night, while Houston hosts the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday night.

Regular Season Series

Series tied 1-1

Recent Plays

4th 0.0 End of Game 116 - 111
4th 0.0 End of the 4th Quarter 116 - 111
4th 4.1 Jalen Green makes 1-foot driving dunk (Steven Adams assists) 116 - 111
4th 7.1 Michael Porter Jr. makes free throw 2 of 2 116 - 109
4th 7.1 Peyton Watson enters the game for DeAndre Jordan 115 - 109

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nba/500/den.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originDEN https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nba/500/hou.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originHOU
44-87 FG 39-89
51 Field Goal % 44
10-21 3PT 11-34
48 Three Point % 32
18-26 FT 22-34
69 Free Throw % 65
43 Rebounds 45
10 Offensive Rebounds 16
33 Defensive Rebounds 29
28 Assists 25
5 Steals 4
4 Blocks 7
9 Turnovers 6
0 Team Turnovers 0
9 Total Turnovers 6
0 Technical Fouls 0
0 Total Technical Fouls 0
0 Flagrant Fouls 0
15 Points Conceded Off Turnovers 6
14 Fast Break Points 0
52 Points in Paint 50
23 Fouls 20
19 Largest Lead 9
Houston Rockets Houston Rockets Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Dorian Finney-Smith, F Out Dec 3
Fred VanVleet, G Out Sep 22
Denver Nuggets Denver Nuggets Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Cameron Johnson, F Out Dec 24
Tamar Bates, G Out Dec 22
Christian Braun, G Out Dec 13
Aaron Gordon, F Out Dec 9

Game Information

Toyota Center (Houston)

Location: Houston, TX
Attendance: 18,055 · Capacity:

2025-26 Northwest Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
Oklahoma City 26 4 .867 - L1
Denver 21 8 .724 4.5 L1
Minnesota 20 10 .667 6 W3
Portland 12 18 .400 14 L2
Utah 10 19 .345 15.5 L4

2025-26 Southwest Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
San Antonio 22 7 .759 - W7
Houston 17 10 .630 4 L2
Memphis 14 16 .467 8.5 W1
Dallas 12 19 .387 11 W1
New Orleans 8 23 .258 15 L1
Full Standings

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