National Basketball Association
Denver 120, Houston 100
When: 9:00 PM ET, Wednesday, November 30, 2022
Where: Ball Arena, Denver, Colorado
Officials: #91 Cheryl Flores, #24 Kevin Scott, #38 Michael Smith
Attendance: 16286

Jamal Murray scored 26 points, Aaron Gordon had 20 and the host Denver Nuggets beat the Houston Rockets 120-100 on Wednesday night.

Bruce Brown scored 18, Nikola Jokic finished with 17 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds and Vlatko Cancar added 13 points for Denver, which has won four straight.

Kevin Porter Jr. scored 23 points, Alperen Sengun had 18 points and 11 rebounds, Jalen Green added 16 points and Jabari Smith Jr. finished with 13 for the Rockets.

The Nuggets led by three points midway through the first quarter before Denver took control. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope hit a 3-pointer, Murray made a layup and Gordon scored four points to put Denver ahead 29-19.

Porter made a technical free throw but Cancar scored eight points in less than a minute (the last coming on a dunk) before Ish Smith made a layup and then fed DeAndre Jordan for a dunk and a free throw to spark the Nuggets to a 44-24 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Denver continued to dominate in the second quarter. Jordan had a dunk, Brown hit his third 3-pointer of the game, Cancar made a reverse layup off an offensive rebound, and Murray hit a 3 to double up Houston, 56-28, with 7:24 left in the half.

Smith hit a 3-pointer that was quickly answered by Gordon's 3 -- a shot that sparked eight straight points for the Nuggets and a 64-31 lead.

The Rockets responded with an 8-2 run to get the deficit down to 66-39 but two buckets, the second of which was a dunk on Jokic's 10th assist on a blind pass, made it 70-39.

Denver went to the locker room ahead 74-47, the most points the team has scored in a half this season.

Green hit two 3-pointers and Sengun dunked to spark a 10-3 Houston run to open the third quarter that cut the Nuggets' lead to 77-57. Denver responded with a quick run to get the lead to 26.

The Rockets got within 19 late in the game but never threatened to make a game of it the rest of the way.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Houston   Denver
Kevin Porter Jr. 23 Scoring Jamal Murray 26
Kevin Porter Jr. 5 Assists Nikola Jokic 12
Alperen Sengun 11 Rebounds Nikola Jokic 9
Tari Eason 4 Free Throws Made Aaron Gordon 4
Josh Christopher 1 Steals Bruce Brown 2
Bruno Fernando 2 Blocks DeAndre Jordan 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Houston 100 42.0 12-41 14-18 18 39 6 5 14
Denver 120 53.0 17-32 15-20 30 42 8 6 12
Upcoming Games
  • Denver will play their next game on the road against Atlanta. The Nuggets have a W/L % of .571 after a win and .857 after a loss.
  • Houston will play their next game on the road against Phoenix. The Rockets have a W/L % of .167 after a win and .267 after a loss.