The Denver Nuggets had the lead and the ball with just over 30 seconds remaining in their Monday night matchup with the Houston Rockets, but couldn’t come away with a win. James Harden scored 39 points, including the game-winning layup with two seconds remaining, to hand Denver its second loss to the Rockets in three nights.
Gary Harris went toe-to-toe with Harden, scoring a career-high 28 points in the loss, but it was not enough to stop the MVP candidate on the game’s penultimate play. Nursing a one-point lead but not able to run out the clock, Jameer Nelson tried to cross over and step back into a long jumper to ice the game. Nelson missed everything and Harden took the rebound coast-to-coast to lay in the go-ahead bucket with just over two seconds to play.
Harden did it on both ends for Houston, defending Mason Plumlee on Denver’s final inbound possession, and sending Denver home with a loss for the second time in as many meetings. Nikola Jokic scored 22 points and had 13 rebounds in the loss; he was two assists away from a triple-double. Will Barton had 24 points off the bench in the loss.
Denver now clings to a half-game lead over Portland for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference, however the Trail Blazers have a game in hand. Portland hosts Milwaukee on Tuesday night while the Nuggets are back in Denver on Wednesday to host Cleveland.
