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DENVER – Will Barton scored 23 points, including two game-sealing free throws with 13.5 seconds remaining, and the Denver Nuggets held off the Houston Rockets 114-108 on Monday night after a sneaker-tossing incident nearly turned the tide.
Gary Harris added a career-high 21 points to help the Nuggets complete a three-game sweep of the Rockets in the season series.
A tossed shoe allowed the Rockets to rebound from a big deficit late in the fourth quarter. Houston’s Trevor Ariza lost a sneaker with 4:53 remaining and his team trailing by 15. Barton picked it up and threw it off the court so as not to trip on it, leading to a technical for delay of game. The Rockets cut the deficit to 110-108 late and had a chance to take the lead. But Jason Terry missed a 3-pointer with 15.9 seconds left and Barton wrapped up the win from the line.
James Harden finished with 24 points for the Rockets, including five of the team’s season-high 18 3-pointers.
The Nuggets outscored the Rockets 62-36 in the paint and out-rebounded them by a 52-26 margin.
Jameer Nelson started for rookie point guard Emmanuel Mudiay, who’s out with a sprained right ankle. Nelson had 10 points and seven assists.
Denver led by as many as 16 in the first half, only to have the Rockets roar back behind the shooting of Harden, who had 11 points in the second quarter.
The jam of the night belonged to Barton. He blew past Ariza along the baseline in the second quarter and threw down a one-handed dunk over Donatas Motiejunas, who also was whistled for a foul.
Once again, ex-Nuggets player Ty Lawson was booed when he stepped on the court.
When he returned to town last month, he was the starting point guard. This time, he entered off the bench – and yet was still greeted by boos.
Lawson spent six seasons with Denver, but trouble away from the court, including multiple drunken driving arrest, soured his reputation with the fans and led to him being traded to Houston over the summer. He’s embraced a fresh start.
“A change of scenery is always good for everybody, to see what things are like on the other side,” Lawson said.
Nuggets coach Michael Malone and Rockets interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff have a big thing in common – both followed in their father’s footsteps.
Malone’s father, Brendan, has coached more than 27 years in the NBA, while Bickerstaff’s dad, Bernie, has served as a general manager and coach in the league, including a stint with the Nuggets in the 1990s.
“Our fathers have had a tremendous impact on us,” Michael Malone said. “Half the things I say I remember my father saying to me 15 or 20 years ago.”
Of all the places he’s been with his dad, J.B. Bickerstaff said he most identifies with Seattle and Denver. He moved to the Mile High City when he was around 11 and went to high school in town.
“This (city) always has a soft spot for me,” said J.B. Bickerstaff, who took over as interim coach last month. “A lot of good memories.”
