Durant and Sengun lead Rockets to 110-100 win over Nuggets

Kevin Durant scored 23 points and Alperen Sengun added 20 as the Houston Rockets defeated the Denver Nuggets 110-100 on Monday night. The victory ended a two-game losing streak for Houston, which had lost its previous two games to the Minnesota Timberwolves and Phoenix Suns after starting the season with a 7-1 record.

The game tightened in the final minutes when Denver’s Jamal Murray scored 38 points in his fourth game this season with at least 34. Murray made two free throws to cut the Rockets’ lead to six points with about five minutes remaining. However, Christian Braun missed a pair of free throws shortly after, allowing Sengun and Amen Thompson to score and extend the Houston advantage to 100-90 with four minutes left.

Denver had previously challenged Houston during the third quarter. The Nuggets erased a 16-point deficit with an 18-2 run to tie the score at 60-60 with about five minutes left in that period. Nikola Jokic contributed 25 points, 16 rebounds, and eight assists during that stretch, while Murray and Cameron Johnson each made three-pointers. The Rockets missed nine consecutive shots during that run and recorded two turnovers, scoring only on two free throws by Durant.

Houston regained momentum when Tari Eason scored the team’s first field goal in more than six and a half minutes with about four minutes left in the third quarter. That basket started an 11-2 run that gave the Rockets a 71-62 lead. Later in the fourth quarter, Sengun hit a short jump shot followed by Fred VanVleet making a three-pointer, pushing the lead to 96-87 with five and a half minutes remaining.

Murray put Denver back within four points with less than seven minutes left, aided by a Sengun turnover. The Nuggets’ two-game winning streak ended with the loss. Denver travels to face the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday night, while the Rockets host the Golden State Warriors on the same night.