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Harden scores 28, Rockets beat Nuggets 114-100

DENVER (AP) — James Harden scored 28 points, Corey Brewer had 24 and the Houston Rockets snapped a three-game road losing streak by beating the Denver Nuggets 114-100 on Saturday night

Trevor Ariza had 19 points and Donatas Motiejunas added 18 for the Rockets, who began a key four-game road trip with their second straight win in Denver after losing the previous four.

Wilson Chandler had 26 points to lead Denver, which is 2-2 under interim coach Melvin Hunt. He replaced Brian Shaw, who was fired Tuesday.

Trailing by seven points at halftime, the Nuggets got a pair of 3-pointers and a three-point play from Randy Foye at the start of the third quarter to surge in front 62-58.

Back came Houston. Ariza drained a 3 to start a 13-2 run that put the Rockets in front 71-64. Later in the third, the Rockets stretched their lead to 85-71, this time with a 12-2 burst that Ariza capped with his third 3-pointer of the game.

Harden converted a three-point play and the Rockets took a 15-point lead into the fourth quarter. Houston opened a 21-point cushion on Harden’s jumper with 6:52 left.

The Rockets led by as many as 13 in the second quarter before settling for a 55-48 lead at the break. Brewer, a former Nugget, helped spark the Rockets’ offense, scoring eight points in the second period.

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TIP-INS

Rockets: The Rockets also have stops at Portland, Utah and the Los Angeles Clippers on the road trip. … Dwight Howard (right knee edema) and Kostas Papanikolaou (sprained right ankle) remained sidelined. Before the game, coach Kevin McHale gave an update on Howard’s status, saying he has begun some conditioning and floor work. The team is still proceeding cautiously with Howard’s rehab. “He is starting to do a combination of treadmill and floor stuff, which is a good sign,” McHale said. “They’re going slow. They want to make sure that they have a handle on it.”

Nuggets: Rookie C Jusuf Nurkic missed his sixth straight game because of a right ankle sprain. … F Darrell Arthur left in the second quarter with right knee soreness and did not return. … Chandler has scored 20 or more points 10 times this season.

UP NEXT

Rockets: At Portland on Wednesday night.

Nuggets: Host New York on Monday night.

This article was written by Dennis Georgatos from The Associated Press and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network.