{"id":61546,"date":"2025-11-23T09:30:19","date_gmt":"2025-11-23T09:30:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/61546\/"},"modified":"2025-11-23T09:30:19","modified_gmt":"2025-11-23T09:30:19","slug":"gordon-hurt-jokic-leads-big-time-nba-cup-win-in-houston","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/61546\/","title":{"rendered":"Gordon hurt, Jokic leads big-time NBA Cup win in Houston"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Denver Nuggets were already down one starter, lost another and were trailing the third-ranked team in the West in a critical NBA Cup clash \u2014 put simply, the team had to figure it out on Friday, and behind Nikola Jokic, they did just that, winning 112-109.<\/p>\n

The Nuggets are now in their second week without starting shooting guard Christian Braun, and reactivated Aaron Gordon for the clash in Texas after he missed Wednesday in New Orleans<\/a> as a precaution for his hamstring. Three minutes into Friday\u2019s game, Gordon went down with a right hamstring strain and did not return.<\/p>\n

\u201cMe sitting here right now, I have no idea. Like, we\u2019ve had conversations. We\u2019ll sit down again after tonight with the discomfort that he had, and we\u2019ll find out what the severity is,\u201d David Adelman shared postgame<\/a>, saying he hadn\u2019t yet heard much of an update. \u201cWe\u2019ll sit down again with the medical team and with him. Aaron is a strong personality who knows what his body feels like. And so part of that conversation is his too\u2026 the goal is to get him to the end of the year if we\u2019re lucky enough to be in that tournament. That\u2019s the most important thing to me and Aaron\u2019s long-term health, love him to death.\u201d<\/p>\n

To make matters worse, Cameron Johnson got into early foul trouble, too. This all led to the Nuggets being forced to play some strange lineups in a must-win game for their NBA Cup hopes against one of the league\u2019s best teams in their barn. Adelman utilized Jokic more with Jonas Valanciunas than he had to this point to combat the Rockets\u2019 size, a move that likely would\u2019ve come regardless of injury. But it wasn\u2019t the size of the Rockets\u2019 record-settingly huge starting five; it was the one smaller player that bugged the Nuggets.<\/p>\n

Reed Sheppard poured in a career high 27 points, getting loose for five threes. The young guard cooked in the second quarter, to flip what was a surprising 12-point first quarter by his entire team. The Nuggets struggled in that second quarter thanks to six threes that dropped, but Denver brought it on defense most of the night. Their one bugaboo was fouling jump shooters, which occurred several times, even though the Rockets made just 13 of 20 free throws.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe tried to make it hard on their best players, give their other guys credit. Reed Shepard went off. It\u2019s pick your poison with a team like that that has that much talent,\u201d Adelman said, alluding to the Nuggets going minus three on the glass, which wasn\u2019t that bad considering the historic rate the Rockets are rebounding. \u201cThey made threes where guys stepped up and then other times I thought we did everything right and they got an offensive rebound.\u201d<\/p>\n

Peyton Watson held Kevin Durant to 13 points on 15 shots. It was just the fifth time in the past two seasons the four-time scoring champ\u2019s output was that low. The Rockets\u2019 star player, who consistently gets Jokic comparisons, Alperen Sengun, was held to just 14 points on 14 shots with six rebounds and five assists. That\u2019s a far cry from his season averages, which place him as the only center even in the same galaxy cluster as the three-time MVP\u2019s gawdy output.<\/p>\n

Joker picked up big time after the Gordon injury, sparking the Nuggets in the third quarter, where they made nine shots in a row. The Rockets responded with a 16-2 run themselves, but it was only after Nikola fell into foul trouble with three picked up in a single minute during the third period. But his scoring output and highlight against Alperen will live on after this night.<\/p>\n

“SENGUN JUST GOT SERVED!”<\/p>\n

Nikola Jokic blows by Alperein Sengun from the free throw line for the big poster dunk, and the #Nuggets<\/a>‘ bench’s minds are blown#MileHighBasketball<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/xdIsDAxK4k<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Joel Rush (@JoelRushNBA) November 22, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

Jokic finished with 34 points on 20 shots with 10 rebounds and nine assists, plus two blocks and two steals.\u00a0Jokic is the first player since Oscar Robertson in 1961-62\u00a0 to record 400 points, 150 rebounds and 150 assists in his 14 games this season.<\/p>\n

Spencer Jones was again very impressive in 22 minutes of rough and tumble defense off the bench, while Bruce Brown and Tim Hardaway Jr. combined for 22 points in reserve. THJ closed for the Nuggets, alongside Watson \u2014 whose career breakout performance was followed by one of his stronger defensive games plus 10 boards, which would\u2019ve tied his career high until earlier this week. He also added nine points and had a highlight of a key block late.<\/p>\n

Watson\u2019s efforts may be even considered greater when thinking about how the Nuggets were down their top two defensive oriented players for the game, and held the league\u2019s top offense to just 109 points in their house.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are a good team, they have so much talent, and we responded,\u201d Jokic said. \u201cAG was out, CB was out, but we still had guys to step up the role, and played really well.\u201d<\/p>\n

The last man to be mentioned here, as he many times is the closer in games, is Jamal Murray. Tasked with more playmaking due to the Gordon injury and Jokic\u2019s foul trouble, the Blue Arrow answered with a game-high 10 assists against one of the best defensive teams in the league. Where size that presses has bugged him in the past, especially given the Nuggets\u2019 lack of alternate ball handlers, Murray blew right past those issues to put up 26 points on 16 shots \u2014 one of his best efforts of the young season.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe consistency he (Murray) has had, I hate talking about All-Star Games, but he\u2019s playing winning basketball,\u201d Adelman told.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought it was just a really tough win for us just to stay with it in the runs that they made,\u201d Adelman said. \u201cSo, it was a good win for the team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Murray showed the wing-focused Rockets why guard play matters at the highest level of basketball, and Jokic showed Seguin he has a LONG way to go. No doubt it was a statement win for the Nuggets, who are trying to be in the Thunder\u2019s arena this season, not the Rockets\u2019.<\/p>\n

\"YouTube
\nNBA Cup-date<\/p>\n

The Nuggets are now 2-1 in West Group C, nicknamed the pool of death for the caliber of teams in it. Denver hosts the Spurs on Black Friday to finish off pool play. The Trail Blazers are in the driver\u2019s seat at 2-1 thanks to a rough last-second foul call, which gave them the win over the Nuggets and the tiebreaker, even though Portland\u2019s point differential in the competition is negative.<\/p>\n

A Nuggets win likely gets them into the knockout stage either way, but coupled with a Portland loss to the Spurs and Denver would likely be the winners of their group. The Blazers had a wild comeback win against the Warriors on this Friday night and play the Spurs on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s next for the Nuggets<\/p>\n

The Nuggets are back home for a single game against the Kings on Saturday. We should know more about Gordon\u2019s injury sometime in the afternoon.<\/p>\n

Follow @Shapalicious<\/a><\/p>\n

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