National Basketball Association
Denver 129, Houston 116
When: 10:00 PM ET, Saturday, April 24, 2021
Where: Ball Arena, Denver, Colorado
Officials: #40 Leon Wood, #44 Brett Nansel, #42 Eric Lewis
Attendance: 4035

Michael Porter Jr. established career bests of 39 points and eight 3-pointers to help the Denver Nuggets cruise to a 129-116 victory over the visiting Houston Rockets on Saturday night.

Nikola Jokic recorded 24 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds as Denver (39-21) won for the 13th time in their past 16 games. PJ Dozier scored a career-best 23 points on 10-of-13 shooting and JaMychal Green had 10 points for the Nuggets.

D.J. Wilson scored a career-best 25 points for Houston, which lost for the ninth time in the past 10 games and 36th in the last 40.

Kelly Olynyk registered 21 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds, and Anthony Lamb scored a career-best 21 points for the Rockets.

Porter has made 15 3-pointers in the past two nights. He hit a then-career-high seven in Friday's loss to the Golden State Warriors.

Houston used just seven players in its latest loss. John Wall was held out for rest and Christian Wood (ankle) sat out.

Kenyon Martin Jr. scored 18 points, Jae'Sean Tate added 14 and Armoni Brooks had 12 for the Rockets, who shot 50 percent from the field and 15 of 40 from 3-point range.

Denver played without Will Barton (hamstring), who was injured Friday night and is out indefinitely. Barton joins Jamal Murray (season-ending ACL) and Monte Morris (hamstring) as recent key injury losses.

Facundo Campazzo had a career-best 13 assists for the Nuggets, who led by as many as 26 points and shot 59.5 percent from the field. Denver made 16 of 37 from 3-point range.

Porter knocked down his eighth 3-pointer with 4:14 left. He was fouled on the play and completed a four-point play to give Denver a 123-100 advantage.

Porter exited with 3:32 remaining despite being close to his first 40-point outing.

Porter had 20 first-half points and Denver shot 65.2 percent from the field while taking a 72-50 halftime lead.

Jokic tallied 16 first-quarter points as the Nuggets held a 36-26 advantage. Denver opened up a big lead in the second quarter to assume control.

Porter scored 10 points in the third quarter as the Nuggets led 102-82 entering the final stanza.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Houston   Denver
D.J. Wilson 25 Scoring Michael Porter Jr. 39
Kelly Olynyk 11 Assists Facundo Campazzo 13
Kelly Olynyk 8 Rebounds Nikola Jokic 8
Kelly Olynyk 11 Free Throws Made Michael Porter Jr. 5
Jae'Sean Tate 4 Steals Facundo Campazzo 3
DaQuan Jeffries 1 Blocks Michael Porter Jr. 3
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Houston 116 50.0 15-40 19-28 27 35 1 10 16
Denver 129 59.5 16-37 13-16 36 36 8 8 15
Upcoming Games
  • Denver will play their next game at home against Memphis. The Nuggets have a W/L % of .615 after a win and .714 after a loss.
  • Houston will play their next game at home against Minnesota. The Rockets have a W/L % of .375 after a win and .200 after a loss.