DENVER - Rockets forward J'Sean Tate made his move, determined to try DeMarcus Cousins inside, when he slipped, hitting hardwood at Cousins' feet.
The cousin reaches down to tie Tate to the jump ball and then lifts his former partner as if he were a kid in the front row. It was a surprise that after doing almost everything else, the cousins didn't get hold of the mop to clean the floor.
The cousins step in and bully the Rockets, as he hasn't in years. The rocket had no answer.
It wasn't because they were unable to find the muscles inside to match the cousins. He had a lot of scoring in the paint. But if they were going to be pushed around by a sly centre, the hope of replying with 3-pointers thwarted them.
The Rockets spun around the Ball Arena until they could do several things well but still could not keep pace. When the Nuggets won 116-101 on Friday, the Rockets' losing streak was 12 games in and they had completed their fall for the worst record in the NBA.
This time, it was because of his inability to make the shots needed to keep him close. Christian Wood had scored 22 points with 10 rebounds, even hitting all eight of his free throws. Jalen Green had a solid 18 points, 7 of 14 shots, a career-high seven assists and one turnover. But it didn't work out.
The Rockets made only 8 of 33 3-pointers when the bench was vacated with a 2:21 and the Nuggets' Monte Morris nailed the dagger 3-pointer to clear the benches.
With MVP Nikola Jokic sick, the Cousins started his 12th game with the Nuggets and scored a season-high 31 points in just 24 minutes.
The rockets kept themselves in it for half the time without even hitting shots from across the street. This was unlikely to last, unless the nuggets somehow wobbled their way through the night as well.
That's how the Thunder stunned the Nuggets, even with Jokic playing, on Wednesday, when Denver hit 12 of 46 3-pointers and Nuggets coach Michael Malone lamented that they were a few more. didn't want to.
On Friday, they were cold to start, but turned to dominate inside Cousins until 3-point shooting came around. By the third quarter, the Nuggets had turned the Rockets' turnover and missed long enough to run out the second way. When Will Barton dropped down 3s in a row, he became the Nuggets' all-time leader in career 3-pointers, surpassing JR Smith's franchise record, and giving the Nuggets a 17-point lead.
The rockets were climbing upwards as they hit the skids through eerie silence, often pushing them into deep holes. But this was different.
The defense remained solid. The Cousins had made their way into their 13th minute and there was a stretch in the first quarter when the Rockets were burning with dribbles. But he generally defended well enough to keep things tight and took a lead at the end of the first quarter.
This time, the rocket crashed on the offensive end. When Green and Kevin Porter sat in the Jr.'s starting backcourt, with Eric Gordon returning to point with Dennis Schroder with a sprained right ankle for the second consecutive game, the Rockets could not run their offense.
After collecting three turnovers in the first quarter, the Rockets held on to a 10-point lead in Denver's 17-6 lead in the first five minutes of the second quarter.
The Nuggets were unable to make deep into their other issues with the Rockets leading 15, making just 2 of 12 3-pointers in the first half after making 21 of 51 3s against the Clippers two days earlier. With 46 first-half points, the Rockets fell under 50 for the first time since December 15 against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
But before things could get out of hand, the Rockets closed the half with a 10-0 run to cut Denver's lead to five. He got each of his last four baskets in half when the rim was cut. While shooting 9 of 19 shots in the quarter, the Rockets got seven of those buckets on the rim, with the only exception being a pair of mid-range jumpers off the green.
It was enough to get back in the game. This did not address the issues of turnover or shooting that had put the Rocket on hold in the first place.