The Denver Nuggets’ six-game winning streak came to a screeching halt Saturday night, and it wasn’t just the scoreboard doing the talking. A 115-101 loss to the Houston Rockets at Ball Arena turned fiery in the fourth quarter, culminating in head coach David Adelman’s first career ejection - a moment that captured the frustration simmering throughout the night.
With 8:40 left in the game and Denver trailing by as many as 17, Nikola Jokic took contact on a missed shot near the rim. No whistle.
No call. And that was the tipping point.
Adelman, already hit with a technical back in the first quarter after back-to-back offensive fouls on Jokic, stormed onto the court to confront the officials. His second tech came fast, and just like that, he was tossed.
Security escorted him off the court as assistant coach Jared Dudley took over, and the Denver crowd - along with Jamal Murray - sent him off with a standing ovation.
After the game, Adelman didn’t try to spin it. His explanation was raw and honest.
“I was confused, and so I was just looking for answers,” he said. “Turns out I had to leave.
Sometimes confusion can lead to destructive things, right? It seemed like (the ref) just kept walking away further and further.”
David Adelman on his ejection:
— Oh No He Didn't (@ohnohedidnt24) December 21, 2025
"I was confused and so I was just looking for answers and I went out there to find them and turns out I had to leave. Sometimes confusion can lead to destructive things, right? It seemed like (the ref) just kept walking away further and further" https://t.co/uCTb9KORJW pic.twitter.com/rsfQX1RLHN
The ejection was just one chapter in a night where the Nuggets never quite found their rhythm. Offensively, they were out of sync - shooting just 40% from the field and a rough 28% from deep.
Compare that to Houston’s 51% from the floor and a blistering 54% from beyond the arc, and it’s not hard to see where things unraveled. The Rockets knocked down 19 threes, 10 of them in the first half alone - a barrage that kept Denver playing catch-up from the jump.
Jokic still put up a solid line with 25 points on 20 shots, adding seven boards and five assists. But foul trouble kept him from being his usual dominant self. He picked up his fourth foul early in the third and his fifth in the fourth, forcing the Nuggets to navigate long stretches without their MVP centerpiece.
Jamal Murray added 16 points and seven assists, but he struggled from the floor, going just 4-of-13. Denver’s offense sputtered in the middle quarters, managing only 16 points in the second and 21 in the third - stretches where the game slipped away.
And that’s when Houston pounced.
Rookie guard Reed Sheppard, coming off the bench, lit the fuse late in the third quarter. He poured in 28 points, including an 11-0 solo run to close the period that pushed the Rockets’ lead to 82-66 heading into the fourth.
Sheppard was electric - 6-of-9 from deep, six assists, three steals, two blocks. It was the kind of performance that shifts momentum and silences crowds.
Kevin Durant led all scorers with 31 points on an efficient 8-of-14 shooting night, knocking down five threes and adding six rebounds and five assists. Jabari Smith Jr. chipped in with 22 points of his own, giving the Rockets a balanced, high-powered attack that Denver couldn’t match.
The loss drops the Nuggets to 20-7, snapping a six-game win streak and serving as a reminder that even the league’s elite can get caught flat-footed. They had taken the first two games of the season series against Houston, including a win earlier in the week, but the Rockets flipped the script this time - and did it with authority.
Denver will look to regroup quickly, with the Utah Jazz coming to town on Monday. But Saturday night was a wake-up call. Between the cold shooting, the foul trouble, and the emotional outburst from the bench, the Nuggets learned the hard way that even in December, the margin for error in the West is razor-thin.