HOUSTON — Nikola Jokic wandered over to his chair on the visiting bench and tossed his towel down in frustration.
It was at that moment, with 5:33 remaining in the fourth quarter and Denver facing a 15-point deficit, that the Nuggets threw in the towel as well. A full five-man sub trickled in to play out the rest of Tuesday’s ugly, dispiriting effort against Houston. The final score, 124-103, got marginally worse against Denver’s reserves.
With a chance to clinch the first-ever No. 1 seed in their NBA history, the Nuggets fell flat on their face. The magic number remained at one, with another chance to seal it on Thursday in Phoenix. But another showing like Tuesday’s won’t work.
