HOUSTON — A very familiar hole dug by the Nuggets in the first quarter dissipated into something more manageable by halftime Wednesday, and then morphed into a gritty win.
It was rare, to be sure. Three years since the last win here, to be exact. But the unfamiliar territory of a 97-92 win in Houston was more than welcome, no matter how far removed it was from the last victory at the Toyota Center.
“It wasn’t easy,” Nuggets coach George Karl said. “The way we started, we gave them confidence. It was a fourth-quarter type of game. It’s a gutty win on our part.”
It pushed the Nuggets’ win streak to eight, which ties for their longest since last season, when they won eight from March 25-April 8.
The last two wins this time around, however, have been accomplished without star forward Carmelo Anthony. A team that has struggled for the most part when a starter is missing from the lineup has been surprisingly stable without Anthony, going 5-2.
And the Nuggets continue to show signs that their foundation is beginning to solidify.
The Nuggets’ house isn’t completely in order, but they’ve gotten off to a good start on the cleaning. Progress has been made on beating teams under .500. Progress has been made in being resilient without a star for a night or two. A win in Houston screams of progress in and of itself.
It was a collective effort. Four players scored in double figures. At times, Nene simply looked unstoppable. The Rockets had to double-team him.
“We’ve got guys that know they are going to have to step up big for us,” Nuggets guard Chauncey Billups said.
The Nuggets shot 44 percent from the field, but the free- throw line was the equalizer.
By the end of the third quarter, the Nuggets had made 14 more free throws than the Rockets and trailed by two.
“We weren’t getting stops,” Rockets guard Aaron Brooks said. “We were allowing them to get to the free-throw line too much. That stopped our transition.”
Down 80-79 with 8:40 to go, the Nuggets went on a 13-5 run, highlighted by two J.R. Smith 3-pointers, to take a 93-84 lead. Fans started emptying out of the arena with 2:58 left.
The Nuggets leaned on defense to put the game away.
Houston started the game hot, shooting 54.5 percent. But by the end of the game, the Rockets were at 43.4 percent.
“Brooks getting into foul trouble, we felt we could clog the paint a lot more,” Karl said. “They were just making good basketball plays. We were kind of a step slow and not committed into making better basketball plays. But once we got control of the paint we had a better chance to win the game.”
Smith led the Nuggets with 22 points. Billups added 21, Nene 18 and Kenyon Martin notched his 16th double-double of the season with 12 points and 15 rebounds.
It all leads to a nice start to a quick three-game road trip.
“Since January, we’ve been trying to get more serious about every game, every situation, every circumstance,” Karl said. “It’s a good one to steal for us, and hopefully we can continue on the trip to Oklahoma City.”
Chris Dempsey: 303-954-1279 or cdempsey@denverpost.com
RECAP
What you might have missed
Ty Lawson left the game at 10:23 in the second quarter with a wrist injury. He re-entered the game at 9:32 with tape on his left wrist. . . . Rusty Hardin, the attorney who threatened to sue Nuggets guard J.R. Smith over unpaid debt, sat courtside to watch the action. . . . Smith, a fan of the Houston area, went to see a high school contest, Oak Ridge vs. College Park, on Tuesday night.
Final thought
Finally, a win in Houston.
Up next
Friday at Oklahoma City,
6 p.m.
