Murray’s night not enough as same old problems sink Nuggets in Houston

Jamal Murray scored 38 points, 15 of them in the fourth quarter — but the Denver Nuggets couldn't overcome a bench that gave them less than nothing

BY JAKE SHAPIRO

Nov 9, 2026, 9:18 PM

Follow on Google News

Watch: Is Bill Simmons right about Nikola Jokic's decline? | Shapiro and Piro | 29 mins

Jamal Murray did just about everything he could. It still wasn’t enough.

Murray scored 38 points, 15 of them in the fourth quarter. But the Denver Nuggets couldn’t overcome a bench that gave them less than nothing. Coupled with a beating on the glass and a 19-point first-half hole, Denver fell to the Houston Rockets 110-100 on Monday night at Toyota Center.

Denver arrived in Houston less than 30 hours before tip-off, after a travel nightmare out of Mexico City that included a night spent sitting on a broken plane. All six Nuggets who were initially listed as questionable played. For most of the first half, the Nuggets looked like a team that had been through it.

“Possibly,” Nuggets coach David Adelman said when asked whether the travel played a role. “… Maybe some of that is fatigue. I don’t know, I can’t quantify it.”

Houston didn’t look tired at all. The Rockets came in having lost two straight, and they played like a team that should be considered among the West’s best.

Denver’s bench struggled from its first stint. Tari Eason was terrific for Houston, finishing with 12 points and a game-high plus-18. The Rockets opened the second quarter on an 11-0 run that pushed the lead to 43-24. The Nuggets didn’t score in the quarter until Murray hit a 3-pointer with 7:30 left before halftime, and Jokic was on the bench for that whole struggling-to-score stretch.

“I thought the second unit in the first run just turned down way too many shots,” Adelman said.

For a while, the third quarter looked like another one of those games.

Nikola Jokic finally got a triple to go to start the second half. Cameron Johnson followed with a 3 of his own, and the starters went to work. They were physical with Kevin Durant, flew around defensively and kept Houston without a field goal for more than six minutes. Denver went on a 20-4 run to tie it 60-60 with 5:04 left in the third.

Then the reserves came back in, and the Rockets pushed the lead back to nine.

“We gave effort, but mentally I just didn’t feel like we were there consistently throughout the night,” Adelman said. “… It felt like we used a lot of energy to get to that point, and it cost us late.”

Just nine games into the season, the Nuggets already had to give up on their bench against a good team. DeMar DeRozan was minus-16, and Spencer Jones was minus-19 and went scoreless. Tyus Jones was minus-11 in less than six minutes and didn’t play in the second half. Jokic and Murray started the fourth quarter together. Marvin Bagley III gave Denver some good minutes, with six points and a block in the fourth.

Murray tried to carry the rest. He scored eight straight Denver points at one stretch and cut the lead to 91-87 with 6:49 left. He finished 14 of 23 from the field, 5 of 8 from deep and 5 of 5 at the line.

“If we’re 7-3, you’re talking about like, wow, who’s playing better at the guard position?” Adelman said. “I’d say outside of Luka, he’s just been so efficient, so good, tough shot making, taking it on his shoulders.”

He didn’t get enough help. Johnson, Christian Braun and Aaron Gordon combined for 15 points on 5-of-19 shooting.
“Our two guys having to do the majority of the scoring, you know, is not going to win a game,” Adelman said. “… You’re not coming out of the game for shooting open shots.”

Jokic was active, with 25 points, 16 rebounds and eight assists — a solid night on defense, too. But he went 1 of 5 from 3 and is now the league’s worst 3-point shooter among qualifiers. Two seasons ago, he shot 42% from deep and would’ve led the league had the heave rule been in place.

The rebounding problem showed up again in the second half. Houston won the glass 51-39, grabbed 15 offensive rebounds and outscored Denver 24-11 in second-chance points. The Rockets had 12 of those offensive boards after halftime.

“It killed us tonight,” Adelman said. “It’s the present day NBA, the modern NBA. A lot of these games are won off offensive rebounds and extra possessions.”

Then the ball-handling problem showed up. With no true backup point guard on the floor, Gordon was bringing the ball up with about four minutes left. The Nuggets were called for an eight-second violation. Amen Thompson scored right away, and Houston led 100-90. That was pretty much the dagger.

Durant had 23 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists, and Alperen Sengun had 20 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists. They became just the fifth pair of teammates with 20 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists each in the same game.

Bench. Rebounding. Ball handling. It’s the same three issues, game after game.