Peyton Watson did his part in the Nuggets’ best win of the season.

In the Nuggets’ 112-109 win in Houston on Nov. 21, Watson had the unenviable task of serving as Kevin Durant’s primary defender. Durant finished with 13 points, his second-lowest scoring output of the season, on 5-of-15 shooting.

 “We came into that game seeing it as a must-win. I think that’s been a big step of growth and improvement for our team in general this year,” Watson said after Sunday’s practice at Ball Arena.

“We can try to be as perfect as possible and live with the results. I think our approach this year has been a lot more serious. Not that it wasn’t before, but I think now we know we have the team and everything we need to go out there and succeed on a night-to-night basis.”

This week presents two more opportunities for the Nuggets, who sit second in the Western Conference at 18-6, to create separation from the third-place Rockets (16-6). Both teams had a few days to prepare for Monday’s game in Denver.

“It was a chance to really go through Houston in depth,” Nuggets coach David Adelman said after the team’s second practice in as many days. “It was kind of like a playoff preparation.”

The Rockets head to New Orleans before returning to Ball Arena for Saturday’s game. The Nuggets get to stay in Denver to host the Magic on Thursday before the week’s second matchup with Houston. The Nuggets will secure the season tiebreaker with a couple of wins against the Rockets this week.

“If anybody watched the first game we played, it’s a high-level basketball game. We have to bring the right intensity, and the physicality is going to be ramped up, which is how they play,” Adelman said. “Then, they have one of the greatest offensive players who’s ever lived. There’s a lot of stuff to look forward to as a fan to watch. Coaching against it, not so much.”

Effectively guarding a guy like Durant, who’s eighth on the NBA’s career scoring list for a reason, requires the defender to do their work early, Adelman explained.

“You have to give him attention the whole time. He does such a good job of getting to his spots, you have to make him work hard for what he’s getting, because once he gets to his spot, I can say as a coach ‘hey, contest.’ The guy is 7 feet tall, 6-(foot)-11 whatever, shoots the ball above his head. There’s no contest,” Adelman said. “We have to do a good job before he gets to that point as best we can of affecting him.”

With Aaron Gordon and Christian Braun’s injuries expected to keep them out beyond this week’s big games, Watson and Spencer Jones have taken on the toughest tasks. It’s a challenge but it’s far from a curse for a 23-year-old who didn’t play much in his lone college season at UCLA or his rookie season in the NBA before he got his opportunity at the highest level.

“It’s been super meaningful for me. I never take the opportunity to even play for granted, let alone to start for one of the best franchises in the league,” Watson said. “It’s something that I never can say how much of a blessing that it is.”