Denver @ Houston preview

Last Meeting ( Apr 5, 2017 ) Denver 104, Houston 110

Even without their head coach and two starters, the Denver Nuggets continued their recent surge, but they'll need all hands on deck for Wednesday's visit to the high-powered Houston Rockets. Nuggets coach Mike Malone was serving a one-game suspension and both Paul Millsap and Wilson Chandler were sidelined, but the Nuggets had more than enough to coast past Sacramento 114-98 on Monday.

"Given the circumstances, I'll take it," assistant Wes Unseld Jr., who coached the team, told reporters. "The minute (we) got in here from the team bus they knew it was a task at hand. We were under adverse circumstances and had no other option than to pull it together." Denver won nine of its last 14 but the Rockets present a vastly different challenge than the lowly Kings and they are 8-1 in their last nine games after a 105-83 rout of Memphis on Saturday. James Harden continued his MVP-caliber play with 29 points and Clint Capela added 17 and 13 rebounds for Houston, which won its fifth straight road game but is returning home for the first time since a 19-point loss to Toronto on Nov. 14. Wednesday's tilt opens up a stretch in which the Rockets play 11 of 14 at home.

TV: 8 p.m. ET, Altitude (Denver), AT&T SportsNet Southwest (Houston)

ABOUT THE NUGGETS (10-7): Will Barton earned his third start in the last five games and responded with 25 points while making 5-of-6 3-pointers, and he is averaging 21 points and 6.7 rebounds as a starter. "That third quarter we were real patient and sound, ran our sets and got going," Barton told reporters. "Anytime you're missing two starters, impact guys like that, it's going to take a while." Gary Harris chipped in 20 points and is averaging 20.7 on 64.9 percent shooting since returning from a shoulder injury three games ago.

ABOUT THE ROCKETS (13-4): Houston ranks second to Golden State in scoring (112.6 points per game) and it put forth some solid defensive efforts of late as well, allowing 96 points or fewer in three of its last four wins. "We all know that the only way we're going to go far in the playoffs is defensively," coach Mike D'Antoni told the media after the Rockets held Memphis to 36 percent from the field. "You've got to be a bear. Tonight, we were." Capela swatted away three shots and Houston recorded nine blocks for the second game in a row.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Capela was 7-for-11 from the floor Saturday and leads the NBA in field-goal percentage (68.1).

2. Millsap (wrist) and Chandler (back) are day-to-day.

3. Houston averaged 118 points in sweeping four games from Denver last season.

PREDICTION: Rockets 120, Nuggets 113