Nuggets 93, Rockets 87: Ty Lawson led the way with 21 points and eight assists as visiting Denver jumped out early and held off Houston.

Kenneth Faried collected 16 points and 16 rebounds and Corey Brewer scored 14 points off the bench for the Nuggets, who have won on back-to-back nights after dropping their first three games of the season.

James Harden was bottled up by Team USA teammate Andre Iguodala and held to 15 points on 5-of-15 shooting while turning the ball over six times. Carlos Delfino scored 19 points, Patrick Patterson added 18 points and Omer Asik recorded 10 points and 13 rebounds for the Rockets.

Denver made its move late in the second quarter as Lawson took over. The point guard scored 14 points during a 21-8 run over the final 6:22 of the period to send the Nuggets into the locker room with a 56-41 advantage.

Houston chipped away in the third quarter and drew as close as 89-85 on Harden’s dunk with 2:11 left. But Iguodala responded with a dunk and then blocked Harden’s shot at the other end to stall the Rockets’ momentum.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Houston PG Jeremy Lin was held to six points on 2-of-9 shooting. He and Harden combined to shoot 0-for-9 from 3-point range. … The teams combined for 42 turnovers. … The Nuggets placed six of the eight players who saw time in double figures. The two that could not reach 10 points contributed in other ways, as Andre Miller grabbed seven rebounds and handed out five assists and Kosta Koufos had four boards and a steal.