Judging by the score entering the fourth quarter, one would have guessed the Rockets rested their starters.
It would have been the sensible thing to do. They were already locked in as the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference before hosting Denver on the final afternoon of the regular season. This game meant nothing to them and everything to the Nuggets.
Instead, Ime Udoka went for the kill, and the Nuggets squashed their competition anyway in a 126-111 regular-season finale Sunday at Houston. They led by 31 points after Peyton Watson’s corner 3-pointer beat the third-quarter buzzer.