HARDEN’S 40 PROPEL ROCKETS IN DENVER
The Nuggets were missing two of their top three scorers. Their top playmaker was saddled with major foul trouble. And one of the front-runners in the MVP race kept coming at them with one devastating downhill attack after another.
Holding off James Harden and the Rockets, and maintaining their position in the race for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference was going to require a steady dose of grit from the short-handed Nuggets on Saturday night.
The Nuggets supplied the heart but not the final basket they needed in a 109-105 loss to the Rockets at the Pepsi Center, snapping a four-game winning streak.
Will Barton had a driving attempt to tie the game with less than 10 seconds left, but his runner bounced off the rim. Harden then nailed two free throws to finish off a 40-point outing — his second in as many nights — and a Rockets victory.
“I’m proud of our guys,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “It was a disappointing loss. Obviously, we’re not happy with the loss. Clean up the undisciplined errors we made and hope for a different result when we play them (Monday) down in Houston.”
Nikola Jokic scored on an offensive rebound putback to pull the Nuggets to within 106-103 with 1:18 left in the game. After Harden missed a jump shot on the Rockets’ next possession, Patrick Beverley fouled Barton on a 3-point attempt with 59.2 seconds left.
Barton made two of the three attempts to pull the Nuggets within one point. Nene made a free throw on the Rockets’ next possession to put them up 107-105. Barton had a good look at the final shot but couldn’t finish the play.
The Nuggets had trimmed an eight-point deficit to 102-100 with 3:08 left after 3-pointers from Jokic and Jameer Nelson on consecutive possessions. Harden then scored on a floater and Nene slammed home a putback as the Rockets pushed the lead back to six points.
In a game that was physical from the start, Jokic picked up three fouls in the first half and played only 11 minutes. He picked up his first two fouls in the span of a minute in the first quarter and then collected another one shortly after entering the game in the second quarter.
The foul issues didn’t abate. Jokic was called for an offensive foul less than two minutes into the third quarter. His fourth infraction sent the center to the bench for the rest of the period. The Nuggets were up by six points when he left. They were down six at the end of the quarter.
The Nuggets already were without Danilo Gallinari and Wilson Chandler for the third consecutive game. With Jokic becoming a spectator for much of the game, Denver needed a spark. Enter Juancho Hernangomez. The rookie forward scored 13 of his 15 points during the first half, connecting on all three of his 3-point attempts.
Kenneth Faried, playing his second game since returning from a back injury that sidelined him three weeks, added eight points and five rebounds in first half to help Denver take a 56-51 lead at the break.