The first change of the game tonight happened before the game when Nikola Jokic injured his elbow during warm ups. Aaron Gordon was also ruled out. This led to Russell Westbrook continuing to start, and DeAndre Jordan getting a start in Jokic’s place. It was obviously going to be a harder game from the get-go than it would’ve been otherwise.

First Quarter

The Nuggets started the game by getting absolutely rushed on the offensive end. The Rockets scored 5 of their first 7 buckets, and they looked like they were going to be in control the whole game. Alperen Sengun looked like the best playmaker on the floor, racking up 3 assists in the first three minutes of game time. Amen Thompson also established himself as the most disruptive defender on the floor, he was on top of everything the Nuggets were doing.

However, the defense started to hold firm for them after that initial onslaught. Houston then made only 2 of their next 10 attempts from the field. The offense took a little bit to get going too, with Russell Westbrook having 4 turnovers in the first quarter alone. DeAndre Jordan also picked up 3 early personal fouls, but did contribute 3 blocks in the quarter. Christian Braun was the real story for the Nuggets in the first quarter though, having 9 points and being a steadying force for the offense.

Jamal Murray started the game with 4 assists in the first period, and 5 points to go along with those. The team wasn’t ideal in the period, but showed enough signs of life (especially without Nikola Jokic) to have some hope that they were going to make it a competitive game. The Nuggets went down 23-28 at the end of the first.

Second Quarter

Oh boy, this is where it all started to fall apart. The first quarter was close, and it seemed like the Nuggets could hang for a little bit in this quarter. However, that notion was quickly dismissed. The offense? Bad, poor, erratic. It was just not good. It’s not really a surprise either – this team isn’t one that will score against elite defenses without Nikola Jokic orchestrating the offense. Jamal Murray and Russell Westbrook looked better in the second quarter than the first quarter, but the two both having 13 and 12 points respectively wasn’t enough to drag the offense to more than 48 points in the half.

The defense was worse though, and that was even with Alperen Sengun shooting only 4 of 13 from the field in the first half. Only a small bit above 30% from the field, and the Nuggets couldn’t capitalize on it. That was in due large part thanks to Jalen Green having 21 points in the first half on just 9 shots. Amen Thompson continued to give the Nuggets headaches on both sides of the floor, and all in all, the Nuggets were just outclassed as they found themselves down 69-48 at halftime.

Third Quarter

The third quarter was more of the same, more or less. Jamal Murray? Solid quarter! Had some good buckets, some good passing, some meh defense, but that’s come to be expected. He’s looked good as of late, and that kept going tonight. The points came easy enough for him, but without anyone besides him or Russell Westbrook providing any real offense it was tough to crack the Houston defense. Michael Porter Jr. didn’t provide any shot creation really, and the only one who helped in that regard was Russ. Christian Braun also came on towards the end of the quarter and had 20 points to his name by the end of it.

The defense remained to be rough. Denver wasn’t getting stops, and Houston wasn’t missing. It didn’t help that Alperen Sengun got going in the quarter too, at least relative to what he was doing in the first half. Denver found themselves down 102-81 at the end of three quarters. Heading into the final frame, the result was mostly already written.

Fourth Quarter

There really isn’t much else to say that wasn’t already said in previous quarters. The Nuggets didn’t do great, the Rockets did solid. They kept pace with each other in the second half. Houston didn’t find much more separation, but Denver couldn’t close the gap either. So despite valiant efforts from Christian Braun, Jamal Murray, and Russell Westbrook – Denver just didn’t have enough tonight. They aren’t invincible off just 24 hours of rest it turns out. The Nuggets dropped to 24-16 and lost 128-108