DENVER — PJ Dozier took little time to adjust to the starting lineup. 

Dozier, who made his first career start Saturday in place of injured Will Barton III, hit his first three 3-pointers of the game, helping the Nuggets beat the Rockets 129-116 at Ball Arena.

Dozier finished the game with a career-high 23 points on 10-of-13 shooting, while Nikola Jokic continued his MVP campaign with 24 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds, with Michael Porter Jr. adding a career-high 39 points. 

Coming off a disappointing loss Friday against the Warriors, Nuggets coach Mike Malone was pleased to see guys step up and take care of business Saturday. 

“Definitely pleased with the win. Any time you can get a win in this league, you have to enjoy it,” Malone said. “For us to come in here, second night of a back-to-back, getting in at 3 o’clock in the morning, I thought we played with a lot more energy and effort than we did last night, but there’s definitely some things we can clean up and get better at, and we’re going to need to because we have a very, very difficult schedule coming up.” 

Dozier will likely become a staple in the starting lineup moving forward, as coach Mike Malone announced before Saturday’s game that he doesn’t expect Barton “back in uniform in the foreseeable future” after he suffered a strained hamstring Friday at Golden State. The 6-foot-6 guard may not be used to being a starter, but has been averaging 20.9 minutes per game this season and close to 29 minutes since guard Jamal Murray tore his ACL April 12. 

“Just to continue to play good basketball,” Dozier said of his mindset going into his first career start. “It’s always good to see the first one to go in and kind of build that way. … I’ve been playing this way a long time. I’m going to continue to have confidence in myself.”

The Nuggets looked unfazed without Barton on Saturday, shooting 59.5% from the field and 43.2% from beyond the arc. Of course, the last-place Rockets were also down several key players, with only eight total players available.

“It’s on everybody,” Jokic said of filling Murray’s and Barton’s void. “I think I need to be much better just helping everybody. But it’s on everybody, everybody needs to step up and be focused.” 

Still, the Nuggets showed they can be a formidable force in the Western Conference without Barton or Murray — especially when Dozier and Porter have career nights. Denver is only five games back from first and 2.5 games from third place in the West. 

“We’ve had a lot of guys willing and able to step up in (Murray’s and Barton’s) place,” Malone said. “Nobody’s trying to be Jamal Murray. We don’t have another Jamal Murray on this roster, or Will (Barton) or Monte (Morris). They have to be the best version of themselves and be true to themselves. Aside from last night, we’ve seen great examples of that.” 

The Nuggets will be back at Ball Arena on Monday at 7 p.m. facing the Grizzlies.