The Denver Nuggets have a chance to push their lead over the Houston Rockets to five games with a road win on Thursday night. Doing so would also push the Rockets further behind the Portland Trail Blazers in the chase for the three-seed, an outcome that favors Denver should they remain where they are in the standings.
While Denver has gotten the better of Houston once this season, the Rockets were without their starting center Clint Capela, and at full-strength Houston is still a nightmare matchup for the Nuggets.
Winning in the Toyota Center is a tall order, but the Nuggets have an opportunity to take a large step towards securing a top-two seed on Thursday night.