DENVER — The Denver Nuggets may have gotten right on Wednesday, with a blowout 129-93 win over the Houston Rockets behind a Nikola Jokic triple-double, which made history, and 30 points from Jamal Murray.
A hot shooting night and step-up contributions from Cameron Johnson and Christian Braun should give fans hope that months of .500 play might be behind the group. It was the third straight game the opening night starting five all played, rounded out by Aaron Gordon. The unit hadn’t been on the floor together since mid-November. The offensive outpouring met with a defense that both forced turnovers and ran the Rockets off the line could be a major positive sign for a team that seemingly hasn’t gotten out of its own way.
Jokic finished with 16 points, 12 rebounds and 13 assists — his 25th-plus triple-double of the season, extending his unprecedented run of four consecutive seasons reaching that mark. No player in NBA history has accomplished that feat.
“I thought he was really active with his hands,” Nuggets coach David Adelman said. “Just overall good team effort, and Nikola spearheaded that with his activity.”
The Nuggets shot 55.2% from 3-point range, while holding Houston to 4-for-34. Denver led by as much as 39 points, built off a decisive third quarter.
“The third quarter was arguably, I would say, probably one of our top five quarters of the year,” Adelman said.
It marked the eighth time this season the Nuggets have outscored an opponent by 18 or more in a quarter. Denver hadn’t produced a quarter like that since early February against the Bulls — beyond that you have to go back to before Jokic was hurt to find great quarters.
Braun delivered 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting, while defending Kevin Durant throughout. Durant finished with just 11 points, tied for his lowest output of the season. It was the second time this season Denver’s defense smothered Houston’s stars — Durant and Alperen Sengun also struggled on Nov. 21.
“I think we did a good job as a team guarding him,” he said. “It’s not going to be one person ever. He’s a great player… All those guys did a really good job of helping me.”
Johnson added 17 points with four assists, two rebounds, two steals and two blocks, in what was by far his best game since returning from injury.
“He continued to be aggressive,” Adelman said. “Sometimes he’s trying to make perfect plays instead of just making the play that is right there in front of you.”
Johnson acknowledged the adjustment.
“Just a little bit more of a decisive,” he said. “I found myself being way too indecisive for too.”
“We love it when he’s aggressive, like he was tonight,” Braun said. “When he plays like tonight, we’re really tough to beat.”
The victory clinched the season series for Denver (40-26) over Houston (40-25), a significant tiebreaker with the Western Conference playoff picture so tightly packed.
“What it really means to me is we won the season series, which is a big deal with all these teams so close together,” Adelman said.
The Nuggets have now held opponents to 95 points or fewer in two of their last eight games — just the third time they’ve accomplished that all season. The defense may finally be turning a corner.
Despite the dominant performance, Adelman kept perspective entering Thursday’s game at San Antonio.
“This is just one game,” he said. “We played really well, won by a lot of points, but this is a process to get into that tournament. That’s all this is.”
Johnson shared a similar long view.
“Our goals are a lot bigger than tonight,” he said. “Our goals are to keep playing deep into the spring and into early summer.”
DA loved the juice, energy, tonight. A lot to be positive about pic.twitter.com/pN6Qh2zxhZ
— Jake Shapiro (@Shapalicious) March 12, 2026
What’s next for the Nuggets?
Jokic and company are on their way to San Antonio for a 7 p.m. mountain tip on Thursday night. It’s the second of the team’s four back-to-backs this month with tip times occurring less than 24 hours apart. After facing the second-best team in the West, Denver has a seeding battle on Saturday, taking on the Lakers in Los Angeles.