Nikola Jokic shines with 36 points, 21 rebounds and 11 assists, but the Nuggets fall to the Rockets on Sunday.
HOUSTON — \u2014 Fred VanVleet<\/a> scored 26 points and Alperen Sengun<\/a> added 23 to lead the Houston Rockets<\/a> to a 107-104 win over the Denver Nuggets<\/a> on Sunday night.
Houston\u2019s six-game winning streak is the longest since January 2021.
Nikola Jokic<\/a> had his fourth triple-double of the season, racking up 36 points, 21 rebounds and 11 assists in the loss.
Jokic hit a 3 with 19.1 seconds remaining to cut Houston\u2019s lead to 103-102. He had a full-court shot at the buzzer to tie it but fell short.
The Nuggets entered the game 8-1, their best start since the 2018-19 season. Houston improved to 6-3 after starting the season 0-3.
\u201cWe\u2019re getting better,\u201d VanVleet said. \u201cWe can feel the trend trending upward, we\u2019re trying to get more things done that the coaches are asking us to do, and we\u2019re executing at a higher and higher level each time out.\u201d
Rockets veteran Jeff Green<\/a> hit a big 3 with 1:49 left in the fourth, putting Houston up 103-94. Green appeared in all 20 playoff games during Denver\u2019s championship run last season. Green scored 15 points off the bench Sunday.
\u201cHe obviously made big shots and was attacking the basket,\u201d Rockets coach Ime Udoka said. \u201cBut also, all week, he had a ton of advice and experience, and he was out there being the quarterback on defense, calling out their sets and what they were getting into. He had that familiarity with the team and obviously that was helpful, but it was great to see him come through down the stretch, finish the game and make some big shots. I\u2019m happy for him.\u201d
Denver entered the fourth quarter with a 76-74 lead thanks to a 20-foot jumper from Collin Gillespie<\/a> with 2 seconds left in the third.
Sengun added eight rebounds and five assists, while shooting 9 of 18 from the field.
\u201cI think it\u2019s a good thing that they\u2019re playing more through him,\u201d Jokic said of Sengun. \u201cI think it\u2019s going to benefit their whole organization. He\u2019s a guy who is not selfish, he wants to play for the team, he wants to pass, and the whole team is going to move when the ball is in his hands. He played really good today.\u201d
Behind Jokic, Michael Porter Jr<\/a>. scored 25 points, Aaron Gordon<\/a> had 16 and Reggie Jackson<\/a> added 14.
\u201cThe greatest challenge that we have is we\u2019re trying to compete for a championship but also develop four young players off the bench,\u201d Nuggets coach Mike Malone said. \u201cThat is insanely hard because young players are going to have nights like tonight, and you have to continue to support them and help them in any way that you can, and that\u2019s what we\u2019re going to do. We know these guys are capable.\u201d
Houston has won two in a row against Denver following a 10-game losing streak.
\u201cIt gives us another feather in our cap,\u201d Udoka said. \u201cIt gives us experience with late-game execution and getting the shots we want and defending. I\u2019m happy with how we finished. They did hit some tough shots, but that\u2019s expected from a championship-caliber team.\u201d
UP NEXT
Nuggets: Host the Los Angeles Clippers as part of the NBA In-Season Tournament play on Tuesday night.
Rockets: Open up a three-game California road trip with the Clippers on Friday night.
——
AP NBA: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/NBA<\/a><\/p>\n

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Nikola Jokic shines with 36 points, 21 rebounds and 11 assists, but the Nuggets fall to the Rockets on Sunday.HOUSTON — \u2014 Fred VanVleet scored 26 points and Alperen Sengun added 23 to lead the Houston Rockets to a 107-104 win over the Denver Nuggets on Sunday night. Houston\u2019s six-game winning streak is the longest […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-84997","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n