The Nuggets appeared to be in for a long night Monday when they fell behind by 13 points early in Houston and trailed 35-28 at the end of the first quarter.
Enter Emmanuel Mudiay. The second-year point guard, demoted to third string after the all-star break, scored eight points in less than five minutes to begin the second quarter, keying a 17-7 run that helped the Nuggets grab the lead.
Mudiay saw the court Tuesday, in part, because guards Jameer Nelson and Gary Harris had each played 39 minutes two nights earlier in Denver, and Nuggets coach Michael Malone didn’t want to put the same workload on those starters for the second straight game.