Jokic helps Nuggets （警官の）巡回区域，受持ち区域 ロケット／急騰するs 117-110 on somber day
DENVER (AP) - Colorado was the 震源地 of Kobe Bryant's worst moment, but even in Denver, in a building where he was frequently booed, there were 涙／ほころびs and stunned silence.
It started with a moment of silence for the NBA 広大な／多数の／重要な, who was killed in a ヘリコプター 衝突，墜落 about an hour before the game, and led to 詠唱するs of "Kobe! Kobe! Kobe!"
The game became 第２位 on this melancholy Sunday at Pepsi 中心 as the Denver Nuggets held off the Houston ロケット／急騰するs 117-110.
"I've got to be honest, it wasn't on my mind when we lost, us losing the game," ロケット／急騰するs guard Austin Rivers said. "This 苦痛 is not going to go away anytime soon. You don't even have to be a basketball fan to feel this."
In 2003, Bryant was 告発（する），告訴（する）／料金d with sexually 強襲，強姦ing a 19-year-old 従業員 at a Colorado 訴える手段／行楽地. He had said the two had consensual sex, and the 告発（する），告訴（する）／料金 was 結局 dropped. The woman later とじ込み／提出するd a civil 控訴 against Bryant that was settled out of 法廷，裁判所. Bryant's adulation remained strong in Los Angeles even まっただ中に the 主張s.
But not so much in Denver, where, for years, his every 外見 was met with lusty boos from fans who heard more about Bryant's 事例／患者 than those in other NBA towns.
From left to 権利, Houston ロケット／急騰するs 中心 Tyson Chandler, guard Austin Rivers and 今後 P.J. Tucker 反応する during a 尊敬の印 to Kobe Bryant before an NBA basketball game against the Denver Nuggets, Sunday, Jan. 26, 2020, in Denver. Bryant died in a California ヘリコプター 衝突，墜落 Sunday. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
All afternoon, the mood was somber.
A few of the Denver players sat at their lockers before the game, 星／主役にするing at their phones in 不信 with the 詳細（に述べる）s of Bryant's death starting to 現れる. The 41-year-old Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, were の中で the nine people killed in the 衝突，墜落 近づく Calabasas, California, about 30 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles.
Houston players Tyson Chandler and P.J. Tucker were visibly upset during the 尊敬の印, while Rivers covered his 注目する，もくろむs with his arm. Rivers also had a 尊敬の印 to Bryant on his shoes. So did Tucker, who wrote, "There will never be another."
"This is beyond 堅い. I don't have the words," Tucker said. "There will never be another person like him. Still trying to 過程 it. ... I don't even really remember much from the game. I'm sorry. Just didn't mean a whole lot now."
Nikola Jokic said he got goosebumps when he heard of Bryant's death.
"I couldn't believe it," said Jokic, who finished with 24 points, 12 回復するs and 11 補助装置s for his ninth ３倍になる-二塁打 of the season. "He's not just a legend here, he's a legend across the world. We lost a 抱擁する person, a 役割 model. It's a 抱擁する loss for everybody."
Jokic gave everythi ng in 栄誉（を受ける） of the player 愛称d 黒人／ボイコット Mamba.
"When you think about Kobe it's, `No excuse. Nothing can put your mind off what you love to do,´" Jokic said. "It's the Mamba mentality, for sure."
Like many around the league, Jerami 認める called Bryant his favorite player growing up.
"Watching everything he did on the 法廷，裁判所, off the 法廷，裁判所, the way he carried himself," said 認める, who 得点する／非難する／２０d a season-high 25 points. "It's 極端に 堅い."
The first half remained a 完全にする blur for Michael Porter Jr. as he 過程d his feelings. He remembered 会合 Bryant at a Nike （軍の）野営地，陣営, when the superstar 申し込む／申し出d him 激励.
"We all look up to him," said Porter, who 得点する／非難する／２０d 17 points to help the Nuggets even the season series with Houston at two apiece. "I didn't think it was real."
Russell Westbrook 得点する／非難する／２０d 22 of his 32 points in the second half. Eric Gordon 追加するd 19 points and Ben McLemore 得点する／非難する／２０d 15 in the absence of 主要な scorer James Harden, who sat out with a bruised left thigh.
Once the final horn sounded, reality of Bryant's death 始める，決める 支援する in.
"It's 破滅的な. This one 傷つける to the 核心," Gordon said. "To hear news like that before the game, it was 堅い to stay 焦点（を合わせる）d. It's 堅い to hear news like that before the game - a guy you admire, a guy you looked up to."
TIP-INS
ロケット／急騰するs: Westbrook had 10 turnovers. ... Clint Capela grabbed 12 回復するs.
Nuggets: It was Jokic's 37th career ３倍になる-二塁打. ... Morris finished with 17. ... The Nuggets were without Jamal Murray (left ankle sprain), Paul Millsap (bruised left 膝) and Mason Plumlee (権利 foot).
DIFFERENT STORY
Rockies All-星／主役にする shortstop Trevor Story drained the pregame 解放する／自由な throw while wearing a pair of Kobe Bryant shoes. Story has always been a big fan of Bryant.
"The way he played the game was so 奮起させるing to me," Story said. "The Mamba mentality, you try to mimic that. The intensity he played with was so special."
UP NEXT
ロケット／急騰するs: At Utah on Monday. ロケット／急騰するs coach マイク D'Antoni 名簿（に載せる）／表（にあげる）d Harden as doubtful for the game against the Jazz and 追加するd that Westbrook will sit it out.
Nuggets: At Memphis on Tuesday. The Nuggets are 2-0 against the Grizzlies this season.
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Houston ロケット／急騰するs guard Austin Rivers and 今後 P.J. Tucker 反応する during a 尊敬の印 to NBA 星／主役にする Kobe Bryant before an NBA basketball game against the Denver Nuggets, Sunday, Jan. 26, 2020, in Denver. Bryant died in a California ヘリコプター 衝突，墜落 Sunday. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Houston ロケット／急騰するs guard Russell Westbrook looks to pass the ball against the Denver Nuggets in the first half of an NBA basketball game Sunday, Jan. 26, 2020, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Houston ロケット／急騰するs guard Ben McLemore, font left, 追求するs the ball with Denver Nuggets 中心 Nikola Jokic in the first half of an NBA basketball game Sunday, Jan. 26, 2020, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Houston ロケット／急騰するs guard James Harden looks on from the （法廷の）裁判 in the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Denver Nuggets, Sunday, Jan. 26, 2020, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Houston ロケット／急騰するs 今後 Thabo Sefolosha, left, 運動s to the 縁 for a basket past Denver Nuggets 中心 Nikola Jokic in the first half of an NBA basketball game Sunday, Jan. 26, 2020, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
