Houston Rockets @ Denver Nuggets
Wednesday, January 15, 2025 at 9:00 PM ET
Ball Arena, Denver, CO | Game ID: 22400568
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
DEN 23 25 33 27 108HOU 28 41 33 26 128
ESPN UpdateESPN Update
Green and Sengun help the Rockets beat the short-handed Nuggets 128-108
DENVER -- — Jalen Green scored 34 points, Alperen Sengun had 20 points, nine rebounds and eight assists and the Houston Rockets beat the short-handed Denver Nuggets 128-108 on Wednesday night.
Green, who hit six 3-pointers, continued his recent scoring surge. He is averaging 32 points in Houston's last six games, including a career-best 42 points against Memphis on Monday.
Fred VanVleet added 16 points, eight assists and three steals for the Rockets, who beat Denver for the fifth time in six meetings.
The Nuggets were without two of their five leading scorers in reigning league MVP Nikola Jokic (right elbow inflammation) and Aaron Gordon (right calf injury).
Jamal Murray and Christian Braun each scored 22 point for Denver, which had 18 turnovers in the loss, including five apiece from its starting backcourt of Murray and Russell Westbrook .
Takeaways Rockets: Houston won its fifth in a row and improved to 10-3 in its last 13 games to solidify its standing as the No. 2 team in the Western Conference.
Nuggets: Denver, which had won eight of its previous 10 games, absorbed its most lopsided defeat since a 145-118 loss to the New York Knicks on Nov. 25.
Key moment Houston opened the second quarter on an 8-2 run that was capped off by a corner 3 by former Nugget Jeff Green that stretched the Rockets' lead to 11 points. Houston outscored Denver 41-25 in the period to take a 69-48 lead into halftime.
Key stat The loss was Denver’s eighth in 20 home games this season, matching the Nuggets’ home loss total across 41 regular-season games in 2023-24.
Up next Houston continues its three-game road swing Thursday at Sacramento. The Nuggets are back in action Friday at the Miami Heat .
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
DENCB C. Braun
DJ D. Jordan
DŠ D. Šarić
HT H. Tyson
JM J. Murray
JP J. Pickett
JS J. Strawther
MP M. Porter Jr.
PW P. Watson
RW R. Westbrook
SA Saric
TA T. Alexander
ZN Z. Nnaji
HOUAH A. Holiday
AS A. Sengun
AT A. Thompson
CW C. Whitmore
DB D. Brooks
FV F. VanVleet
JG J. Green
JT J. Tate
JG Ja. Green
NW N. Williams
RS R. Sheppard
SA S. Adams
DEN/HOU the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur