It was a hard-fought, physical affair, but the Denver Nuggets survived a truly great game vs the Houston Rockets to earn a 112-109 win.

The Nuggets brought a great energy and focus to the night, an NBA Cup game against a premiere opponent. From the opening tip, the Nuggets were locked in defensively, showing an ability to counter the Rockets’ size and physicality with some of their own. It was a battle throughout the night, but the Nuggets prevailed through strong offensive process to win their first clutch game of the year as well.

Unfortunately, Aaron Gordon suffered an early injury, re-aggravating a right hamstring injury he’s been dealing with for a little while. That was three minutes into the game, and his absence forced the Nuggets to get creative in how they guarded Kevin Durant and the Rockets throughout the night.

It’s great to have Nikola Jokic to help solve some problems.

Jokic won his matchup against Alperen Sengun in a major way going for 34 points, 10 rebounds, and nine assists while shooting 11-of-20 from the field, 4-of-8 from three, and 8-of-10 from the line. Jokic’s aggressiveness throughout the night ramped up as the Nuggets needed more and more scoring from him. He started the game passively, but as he developed a rhythm against Sengun and Steven Adams, Jokic found his jump shot in both the mid-range and three-point line.

Oh, and he also dunked all over Sengun after a nice pump fake and drive.

On the other end of the floor, this was one of Jokic’s best defensive games of the season. He accumulated the 10 rebounds to go with two steals and a block, but it was his positioning, physicality, and high IQ going against Sengun and the Rockets offense that frustrated them. Sengun was clearly bothered and out of rhythm all night, airballing his only three-pointer en route to 14 points on 14 shots to go with five rebounds, six assists, and four turnovers.

Jamal Murray also stepped up in a major way after a rough first half. He accumulated several points and assists by staying aggressive against defensive demon Amen Thompson, generating switches against bench guard Reed Sheppard, and attacking mismatches vs bigs like Sengun and Steven Adams.

Murray finished the game with an efficient 26 points and 10 assists on 10-of-16 from the field and 3-of-7 from three. He also made clutch plays to end the game, including a free throw, a steal on an interior pass, and somehow blocking Kevin Durant.

The Nuggets as a whole did a great job defensively against Durant and Sengun, limiting them to just 27 points on a combined 28 shots. They were able to defend without fouling against those two while also playing a physical brand of defense that was established by both teams at the outset.

Peyton Watson, Cam Johnson, Bruce Brown, and Spencer Jones all deserve special consideration for their efforts.

Watson was the primary defender on Durant all night and made huge hustle plays. He continues to justify his spot in the starting lineup in the wake of Christian Braun’s injury. Johnson had a quiet night offensively, but his ability to guard on the perimeter and make the right rotation is extremely useful. Brown had three steals and a block in his 21 minutes as he continues to play pesky defense all night long.

Jones started in place of Aaron Gordon in the second half. Interestingly, he spent a lot of time guarding Reed Sheppard, who went off in the first half for 20 points and started the second half too. Jones did a nice job reducing the number of shots he got, as well as switching out onto Durant, Sengun, and others.

Overall, this was a great night for Denver. It’s too bad there’s an injury attached to it, but the Nuggets earned a really impressive road win against a dominant Rockets team.

The Nuggets will play Saturday night against the Sacramento Kings on the second night of a back-to-back. Braun is already out, and Gordon will definitely be out too. I suspect Murray will also rest against the Kings, leaving the Nuggets a bit understaffed. Can they still defend home court? It will take a high effort performance and another great night from Jokic. We will see.