DENVER -- Will Barton was doing everything for the Denver Nuggets, even clearing clutter off the court.

His shoe toss didn't sit well with Houston forward Trevor Ariza, and his overall play was one reason the Nuggets finished a sweep of the three-game season series of the Rockets.

Barton scored 23 points and added nine rebounds, guard Gary Harris scored a career-high 21 points, and Denver held on to beat Houston 114-108 Monday night.

Denver center Joffrey Lauvergne got his second double-double of the season with 14 points and a career-high 11 rebounds.

The Nuggets (10-14) outrebounded the Rockets 52-26 to win for the fourth time in five games.

"We're moving the ball, we're playing as a team, and guys are buying in," Barton said of Denver's recent success.

The win spoiled Houston interim head coach J.B. Bickerstaff's return to Denver. Bickerstaff played high school basketball at Denver East high school when his father, Bernie, was an executive and head coach of the Nuggets for seven seasons.

Guard James Harden led the Rockets (12-13) with 24 and forward Donatas Motiejunas scored 19 off the bench.

It was the 11th time this season Houston allowed 110 or more points.

"Our focus is on us and what we're doing defensively," Bickerstaff said. "We didn't get the job done often enough."

The Rockets seemed out of it after a Lauvergne dunk with 4:55 left made the score 108-93, but Barton gave Houston a spark when he tossed Ariza's loose shoe toward the scorer's table. He was called for a delay of game, and Harden's free throw started a 15-2 run that made it 110-108 with 51.8 seconds left.

"That's how the game goes sometimes," Barton said. "You never know, you might have to make a 3, you might have to throw somebody's shoe into the crowd."

Ariza and Barton jawed at each other after Barton tossed the shoe, but Barton said things are fine between the two.

"That's my guy. We're cool," Barton said. "We talked after the game, no hard feelings."

Houston, which hit a season-high 18 3-pointers (on 40 attempts), had a chance for the lead, but guard Jason Terry missed a corner 3-pointer with 15.9 seconds left. Barton hit two free throws to make the score 112-108.

"We got a great look. A great look," Harden said. "Ten out of 10, I would take that shot all day. Jason Terry in the corner, one of the best 3-point shooters in the history of the game, I'll take it."

Denver led by as many as 16 early in the second quarter before Houston came back. Harden had 11 points in the second as the Rockets outscored the Nuggets 36-18 in the period to take a 58-54 halftime lead.

Houston was 10-for-21 from 3-point range in the first half, but Denver had a 34-20 advantage in the paint.

"We beat them in the paint, we beat them in rebounds, fast-break points," Nuggets guard Jameer Nelson said. "The only thing they did better than us was shoot threes. They made a lot of threes. That's how they stayed in the game."

The advantage was 10 points early in the third before Denver rallied. Harris, Nelson and Barton hit 3-pointers during a 15-0 run that gave the Nuggets an 88-80 lead.

Denver, playing without rookie point guard Emmanuel Mudiay (right ankle sprain) and forward Darrell Arthur (right knee soreness) extended the lead back to 16 by going deep into the its bench. Forward Kostas Papanikolaou had five points in the surge during his first action since Nov. 30.

NOTES: Rockets C Clint Capela was inactive. Coach J.B. Bickerstaff said Capela was dealing with food poisoning. ... Nuggets G Emmanuel Mudiay is day-to-day with a right ankle sprain. Mudiay is in a walking boot, but the injury is not considered as serious as last year when he was limited to 10 games for Guangdong Southern Tigers of the Chinese Basketball Association. ... Bickerstaff said the he is increasing C Dwight Howard's minutes on both ends of back-to-backs. "On the front end, his minutes are going to go up a little bit higher, and on the back end of the back-to-backs, we expect him to play even more minutes than the first game," Bickerstaff said. ... Nuggets F Darrell Arthur (right knee soreness) did not dress.