In their first preseason game of the 2022-23 season, the Denver Nuggets suffered a 112-101 loss at the hands of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Even though it came in a loss, it was nice to have Nuggets basketball back and it was especially nice to see Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. back on the court for Denver.
It was a tough start for Murray as he opened the game 0-of-2 shooting from the field, while Porter had six points on 3-of-4 shooting from the field after the first quarter. Denver trailed 30-21 following the opening frame as they struggled to shoot from beyond the arc opening the game 0-of-5 from three.
It was a much different story in the second quarter for Murray as he scored 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the field, 2-of-3 from three including this buzzer beater to close the half:
Murray really started to find his rhythm to close the half finishing the game with those 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the field to go along with two rebounds and two assists in his 15 minutes of action.
Porter played just under Murray’s total with 14 minutes and scored 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field, 2-of-4 from three.
It was awesome to see the Nuggets big three back on the floor together and after a sloppy first quarter Denver’s starting five really started to find a groove to end the first half. The Nuggets led 52-51 at the break as the starters handed the baton off to the bench for the final two quarters.
Oklahoma City quickly regained the lead to start the third quarter as they ended up outscoring Denver 39-30 in the period to take an 8-point lead into the fourth. One player who really struggled for the Nuggets tonight was Bones Hyland, who scored just six points on 2-of-7 shooting from the field in 14 minutes of action.
Some players who shined on the second unit were Zeke Nnaji and Jeff Green, who both finished in double figures with 15 and 11 points respectively. Nnaji shot 6-of-11 from the field and hauled in six rebounds as he looked like a player who could definitely be in Michael Malone’s rotation once the regular season begins. It was reported today that Denver picked up Nnaji’s fourth-year option and he certainly did not disappoint in his first action of the season.
Aaron Gordon was the Nuggets only other player who finished in double figures as he poured in 10 points on a pretty efficient 4-of-6 shooting from the field. The Nuggets will be back in action on Friday night when they head to Chicago to face-off against the Bulls. Tip-off for that game is set for 6PM MST.
