Rockets protect home court against cold-shooting Nuggets

Jalen Green scored a team-high 25 points while Alperen Sengun added a double-double as the Houston Rockets extended their homecourt winning streak to eight consecutive contests with a 105-86 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Friday in an NBA in-season tournament game.

Green and Sengun combined to carry Houston to the win after Denver used a 14-0 run bridging the final two periods to close to within 84-75 on a Justin Holiday 3-pointer with 9:00 left to play.

Sengun responded with a driving layup with 8:30 remaining for the first points of the final period for the Rockets. Sengun later grabbed an offensive rebound and fed Green for a layup through a foul and a three-point play. Green followed with a pair of transition dunks to seal the triumph.

Sengun posted 21 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists. Jabari Smith Jr. (16 points, 14 rebounds) and Fred VanVleet (17 points, 11 assists) also recorded double-doubles for Houston.

Nikola Jokic paced the Nuggets with 38 points, 19 rebounds and eight assists. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (20 points) and Michael Porter Jr. (14 points, seven rebounds) teamed with Jokic to erase what was a 26-point first-half deficit, but Denver was bereft on offense elsewhere. Starters Reggie Jackson and Aaron Gordon combined for four points on 1-for-20 shooting.

Denver has dropped four of five.

Jokic paired 14 points with eight rebounds in the opening period, but it was a miserable start for Denver, which shot 1 for 16 in the quarter excluding Jokic. The Rockets sank 5 of 7 3s in the first and turned a 17-0 run into a 36-19 lead with 10:00 left in the second.

Jokic ended that drought with a midrange jumper at the 9:39 mark of the second quarter, but the Nuggets struggled to maintain traction. Denver opened the second period by missing 10 of 11 shots, and after Green followed a Dillon Brooks 3 with a transition dunk, the Rockets led 56-32.

The Nuggets needed another Jokic surge to slice the deficit to 17 at the break, but while Jokic tallied 25 points in the first half, his teammates chipped in just 18 points on 6-for-30 shooting.