Nuggets, Rockets Injury Report Rules Out 5 Players

The Denver Nuggets and Houston Rockets have revealed their injury reports before their pivotal contest.

Dec 20, 2025; Denver, Colorado, USA; Houston Rockets forward Kevin Durant (7) holds the ball as he is defended by Denver Nuggets guard Bruce Brown (11) during the second half at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-Imagn Images | Christopher Hanewinckel-Imagn Images

The Denver Nuggets and Houston Rockets will be up for their third meeting of the 2025-26 season on Wednesday, where for both sides, it'd be a major statement to be made by coming away with a victory.

However, both sides will be dealing with some injuries headed into the game that are set to shake up their rotation a bit, particularly for the Rockets.

Here's a look at what the injury landscape is between the Nuggets and the Rockets:

Denver Nuggets Injury Report

– OUT: F Peyton Watson (hamstring)

– PROBABLE: G Jamal Murray (ankle)

– PROBABLE: F Cameron Johnson (back)

The Nuggets still have their lingering injury surrounding Peyton Watson to account for headed into the night against the Rockets, as their rising two-way wing will continue to miss time with him hamstring injury that's now kept him sidelined for the past month.

When Watson has been on the floor for the Nuggets throughout this season, good results have happened. In 49 games, he's averaged a career-high 14.9 points a game, combined with 4.9 rebounds and 2.0 assists on an efficient 49.6% from the field and 41.7% from three.

Having him on the floor would be a huge lift for the Nuggets' outlook on both ends. But instead, he'll be eyeing to make his return within the next couple of weeks as opposed to against Houston.

Mar 1, 2026; Denver, Colorado, USA; Denver Nuggets guard Peyton Watson (8) on the bench in the second quarter against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images | Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

The good thing for the Nuggets, though, is that they'll have both Jamal Murray and Cameron Johnson slated to play against Houston after having dealt with their respective injuries rolling into the night, but having been listed as probable for the action, it's more likely than not that they'll be out on the floor.

Murray has been dealing with an ankle injury dating back to when he first suffered a sprain back during their weekend game against the New York Knicks, while Cameron Johnson has a new back injury that had flared up in the second half of action against the OKC Thunder, but one that he would end up returning from mid-game.

Houston Rockets Injury Report

– OUT: F Dorian Finney-Smith (ankle)

– OUT: F Jae'Sean Tate (knee)

– OUT: C Steven Adams (ankle)

– OUT: G Fred VanVleet (knee)

For the Rockets, they'll have most of their key pieces in-tact throughout their rotation, but will be without some of their usual depth on the wing in the form of Dorian Finney-Smith, who has been listed out with an ankle injury, and for Jae'Sean Tate, who's also out with a knee injury.

For their big three of Kevin Durant, Amen Thompson, and Alperen Sengun, all three will be healthy and ready to go, set to make this one a good challenge for the Nuggets to take on, and hope to lift up a bit further into the Western Conference playoff picture coming out of it.

Tip-off between the Rockets and Nuggets lands at 8 p.m. MT, where Denver will be hoping to avoid a dreary three-game skid after their two humbling losses suffered on the schedule against the Knicks and OKC Thunder.