HOUSTON -- — Nikola Jokic had 34 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists, and Jamal Murray added 26 points and 10 assists as the Denver Nuggets held on to beat the Houston Rockets 112-109 on Friday night.

Jokic, who scored 24 points in the second half, finished 11 of 20 from the field. Tim Hardaway Jr. had 12 points off the bench for the Nuggets, who shot 53%.

Denver improved to 2-1 in NBA Cup play with one game remaining on Nov. 28 at home against the Spurs, while the Rockets dropped to 1-2 in NBA Cup play, with one game left at the Warriors on Wednesday.

Reed Sheppard scored a career-high 27 points to lead the Rockets, who had their five-game winning streak snapped. He had 20 points in the first half on 8-for-11 shooting, including 4 of 6 on 3-pointers.

Amen Thompson added 22 points and seven rebounds, Jabari Smith Jr. had 21 points and 11 rebounds, Alperen Sengun had 14 points and Kevin Durant finished with 13 points for Houston, which shot 44%.

Trailing 92-87 with 9 minutes remaining, Denver went on a 20-9 run to take a six-point lead on two free throws by Murray with 23 seconds remaining. Houston scored 8 of the next 11 points to cut the lead to 110-109 on a 3-pointer by Smith with 5 seconds remaining. Jokic made two free throws with just under 3 seconds left, and Sengun’s halfcourt heave at the buzzer missed.

Aaron Gordon exited with a right hamstring strain less than 3 1/2 minutes into the first quarter after falling to the court while driving. Gordon, who missed the Nuggets’ last game Wednesday at the Pelicans due to injury, was slow to get up and limped to the locker room.

Up next

Nuggets: Hosts the Kings on Saturday night.

Rockets: At the Suns Monday to begin a four-game road trip.

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AP NBA: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NBA

Play By Play

Recent plays and game events

TIME	PLAY
12:00	Nikola Jokic vs. Steven Adams (Aaron Gordon gains possession)	0	0
11:43	Jamal Murray makes driving layup	0	2
11:34	Amen Thompson makes 12-foot driving floating jump shot	2	2
11:19	Jamal Murray makes 24-foot three pointer	2	5
11:04	Cameron Johnson personal foul	2	5
10:55	Alperen Sengun makes driving layup	4	5
10:38	Jamal Murray misses 24-foot three point pullup jump shot	4	5
10:37	Alperen Sengun defensive rebound	4	5
10:16	Jabari Smith Jr. misses 10-foot pullup jump shot	4	5
10:14	Nikola Jokic defensive rebound	4	5
9:58	Jabari Smith Jr. shooting foul	4	5
9:58	Aaron Gordon misses free throw 1 of 2	4	5
9:58	Nuggets offensive team rebound	4	5
9:58	Aaron Gordon makes free throw 2 of 2	4	6
9:42	Cameron Johnson shooting foul	4	6
9:42	Steven Adams misses free throw 1 of 2	4	6
9:42	Rockets offensive team rebound	4	6
9:42	Tim Hardaway Jr. enters the game for Cameron Johnson	4	6
9:42	Steven Adams misses free throw 2 of 2	4	6
9:42	Aaron Gordon defensive rebound	4	6
9:23	Aaron Gordon misses 25-foot three point step back jumpshot	4	6
9:22	Rockets defensive team rebound	4	6
9:10	Amen Thompson misses driving layup	4	6
9:05	Jamal Murray defensive rebound	4	6
9:02	Peyton Watson makes two point shot (Jamal Murray assists)	4	8
8:49	Jabari Smith Jr. misses 23-foot three point jumper	4	8
8:47	Aaron Gordon defensive rebound	4	8
8:42	Aaron Gordon traveling	4	8
8:39	Jamal Murray personal take foul	4	8
8:39	Jonas Valanciunas enters the game for Aaron Gordon	4	8
8:26	Amen Thompson misses 23-foot three point jumper	4	8
8:24	Nikola Jokic defensive rebound	4	8
8:02	Jonas Valanciunas misses 24-foot three point jumper	4	8
8:02	Nikola Jokic offensive rebound	4	8
7:58	Nikola Jokic lost ball turnover (Kevin Durant steals)	4	8
7:54	Alperen Sengun misses 21-foot jumper	4	8
7:53	Steven Adams offensive rebound	4	8
7:49	Kevin Durant misses 25-foot three point jumper	4	8
7:49	Nikola Jokic defensive rebound	4	8
7:43	Tim Hardaway Jr. misses 23-foot three point shot	4	8
7:40	Nikola Jokic offensive rebound	4	8
7:38	Tim Hardaway Jr. misses 24-foot three point jumper	4	8
7:34	Peyton Watson offensive rebound	4	8
7:24	Tim Hardaway Jr. makes 25-foot three point jumper (Peyton Watson assists)	4	11
7:01	Kevin Durant misses 14-foot jumper	4	11
7:00	Tim Hardaway Jr. defensive rebound	4	11
6:49	Jonas Valanciunas misses 11-foot hook shot	4	11
6:49	Jabari Smith Jr. defensive rebound	4	11
6:38	Amen Thompson misses driving floating jump shot	4	11
6:38	Steven Adams offensive rebound	4	11
6:31	Kevin Durant makes 11-foot pullup jump shot	6	11
6:11	Jonas Valanciunas makes 7-foot hook shot (Nikola Jokic assists)	6	13
5:55	Alperen Sengun misses 21-foot pullup jump shot	6	13
5:53	Peyton Watson defensive rebound	6	13
5:48	Peyton Watson bad pass (Kevin Durant steals)	6	13
5:43	Kevin Durant makes 2-foot dunk	8	13
5:32	Alperen Sengun personal foul	8	13
5:32	Rockets Full timeout	8	13
5:32	Clint Capela enters the game for Steven Adams	8	13
5:24	Jamal Murray misses 14-foot pullup jump shot	8	13
5:21	Jabari Smith Jr. defensive rebound	8	13
5:20	Jabari Smith Jr. out of bounds bad pass turnover	8	13
5:20	Rockets delay of game violation	8	13
5:07	Jonas Valanciunas misses 8-foot two point shot	8	13
5:06	Kevin Durant defensive rebound	8	13
4:55	Jonas Valanciunas blocks Clint Capela 's 7-foot driving layup	8	13
4:52	Jonas Valanciunas defensive rebound	8	13
4:51	Nikola Jokic out of bounds bad pass turnover	8	13
4:51	Bruce Brown enters the game for Jamal Murray	8	13
4:34	Jabari Smith Jr. misses 14-foot two point shot	8	13
4:33	Bruce Brown defensive rebound	8	13
4:23	Nikola Jokic makes 24-foot three pointer	8	16
4:00	Alperen Sengun misses 17-foot pullup jump shot	8	16
4:00	Peyton Watson defensive rebound	8	16
3:50	Nikola Jokic bad pass (Clint Capela steals)	8	16
3:38	Clint Capela misses alley oop dunk shot	8	16
3:36	Tim Hardaway Jr. defensive rebound	8	16
3:32	Peyton Watson makes two point shot (Tim Hardaway Jr. assists)	8	18
3:11	Jabari Smith Jr. bad pass (Nikola Jokic steals)	8	18
3:07	Amen Thompson shooting foul	8	18
3:07	Peyton Watson misses free throw 1 of 2	8	18
3:07	Nuggets offensive team rebound	8	18
3:07	Reed Sheppard enters the game for Amen Thompson	8	18
3:07	Josh Okogie enters the game for Alperen Sengun	8	18
3:07	Spencer Jones enters the game for Jonas Valanciunas	8	18
3:07	Peyton Watson makes free throw 2 of 2	8	19
2:55	Reed Sheppard lost ball turnover (Bruce Brown steals)	8	19
2:43	Josh Okogie shooting foul	8	19
2:43	Nuggets Full timeout	8	19
2:43	Nikola Jokic misses free throw 1 of 2	8	19
2:43	Nuggets offensive team rebound	8	19
2:43	Nikola Jokic makes free throw 2 of 2	8	20
2:23	Kevin Durant misses 19-foot pullup jump shot	8	20
2:22	Jabari Smith Jr. offensive rebound	8	20
2:22	Jabari Smith Jr. misses tip shot	8	20
2:22	Nuggets defensive team rebound	8	20
2:04	Nikola Jokic misses driving layup	8	20
2:02	Spencer Jones offensive rebound	8	20
1:52	Jabari Smith Jr. blocks Peyton Watson 's 8-foot layup	8	20
1:48	Peyton Watson offensive rebound	8	20
1:48	Peyton Watson misses two point shot	8	20
1:47	Nikola Jokic offensive rebound	8	20
1:47	Nikola Jokic misses tip shot	8	20
1:47	Nikola Jokic offensive rebound	8	20
1:47	Jabari Smith Jr. personal foul	8	20
1:47	Nikola Jokic misses free throw 1 of 2	8	20
1:47	Nuggets offensive team rebound	8	20
1:47	Alperen Sengun enters the game for Jabari Smith Jr.	8	20
1:47	Amen Thompson enters the game for Clint Capela	8	20
1:47	Nikola Jokic makes free throw 2 of 2	8	21
1:30	Kevin Durant makes 13-foot pullup jump shot (Reed Sheppard assists)	10	21
1:12	Nikola Jokic makes 7-foot two point shot (Bruce Brown assists)	10	23
52.5	Reed Sheppard makes driving layup (Alperen Sengun assists)	12	23
43.9	Tim Hardaway Jr. misses 24-foot three point jumper	12	23
41.2	Kevin Durant defensive rebound	12	23
29.0	Kevin Durant bad pass (Nikola Jokic steals)	12	23
25.8	Bruce Brown makes two point shot (Nikola Jokic assists)	12	25
6.1	Josh Okogie misses 23-foot three point jumper	12	25
4.3	Amen Thompson offensive rebound	12	25
2.7	Amen Thompson misses layup	12	25
1.9	Alperen Sengun offensive rebound	12	25
1.8	Alperen Sengun misses 15-foot tip shot	12	25
1.8	Rockets offensive team rebound	12	25
1.7	shot clock turnover	12	25
1.0	Nikola Jokic misses heave jump shot	12	25
1.0	Nuggets offensive team rebound	12	25
0.0	End of the 1st Quarter	12	25

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Game Information

Time, Location & Referees

Venue

Toyota Center (Houston)

Houston, TX

Date & Time

2:30 AM, November 22, 2025

Coverage

Prime Video

Attendance

18,108

Referees

Courtney Kirkland, Dedric Taylor, J.T. Orr

2025-26 Northwest Standings

TEAM	W	L	PCT	STRK
Oklahoma City	40	13	.755	L2
Denver	34	19	.642	W1
Minnesota	32	22	.593	L2
Portland	25	28	.472	W2
Utah	16	37	.302	L2

2025-26 Southwest Standings

TEAM	W	L	PCT	STRK
San Antonio	36	16	.692	W4
Houston	32	19	.627	W1
Memphis	20	31	.392	L2
Dallas	19	33	.365	L7
New Orleans	14	40	.259	W1

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Jokic scores 34, Nuggets beat Rockets 112-109

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