The Nuggets were missing two of their top three scorers. Their top playmaker was saddled with major foul trouble. And one of the frontrunners in the MVP race kept coming at them with one devastating downhill attack after another.
Holding off James Harden and the Rockets, and maintaining their position in the race for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference was going to require a steady dose of grit from the short-handed Nuggets on Saturday night.
The Nuggets supplied the heart but not the final basket they needed in a 109-105 loss to the Rockets at the Pepsi Center, snapping a four-game winning streak.