DENVER – Somehow, after playing through the sorrow, the Rockets had done enough to see a chance to steal a shorthanded win, enough to want it.
Then the Rockets faded in the fourth quarter, the offense that had carried them breaking down, until the Nuggets pulled away for a 117-110 win to complete a long, difficult day.
Playing less than an hour after learning of the death of Kobe Bryant, the Rockets led by as much as nine. But in the fourth quarter, they made just 1 of 6 3-pointers. After committing just 11 turnovers through three quarters, they had seven in the fourth quarter as the Nuggets pulled away.