The Denver Nuggets sat their three primary ball-handlers and gave the Thunder no ammunition for their opening night matchup – but also lost big to the Thunder 124-94. Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray and Russell Westbrook all sat, and that left the Nuggets woefully outmatched at the point creation position. MPJ had 15 first half points and 6 boards while Julian Strawther had 12 points and 4 assists. Trey Alexander was the first player off the bench for Denver and looks to have the first shot at the third-point-guard spot locked up, but there wasn’t a lot left to enjoy from the reserves. Denver finished the first quarter with a 33-30 lead and then got destroyed by the Thunder’s stars and reserves both. It’s not indicative of much – this is not how Denver would play OKC in the regular season and being down 4 rotation players including Peyton Watson – but it still left Denver winless and looking for continuity and production on both sides of the ball heading into their final preseason matchup against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Thursday.

Game Recap

Denver opened the game with Julian Strawther at the point, Christian Braun as the shooting Guard, MPJ at the 3, Zeke at the 4 and Aaron Gordon pulling center duties. OKC won the tip but missed the shot, while Aaron Gordon buried an elbow jumper. Strawther hit a 3, MPJ made free throws and Chet Holmgren SGA answered with threes of their own. A Hartenstein bucket gave OKC the lead at 9-8 but then Strawther made a beautiful turnaround paint bucket and Zeke Nnaji stuffed Jalen Williams near the rim. MPJ splashed a long jumper and Braun made a transition dunk for a 14-10 Nuggets lead.

Braun tried another huge transition dunk over Hartenstein but got rejected and it turned into an OKC three from Williams. He hit his second in a row to give OKC the lead back, but Nnaji swished a pair of open threes and MPJ finished at the rim over Dort. MPJ tapped in a Braun miss, then dunked off a curl and drive to the rim. SGA and Wiggins both made tough shots to help OKC get the lead back, but Strawther’s floater and Saric’s layup in the final seconds gave Denver a 33-30 lead after one.

Dario Saric finished a tough pass from Strawther over Chet to open the second quarter scoring. Isaiah Joe buried a three for OKC but Trey Alexander finished in the paint through contact for a traditional three-point play. Alex Caruso made a transtion layup, but Strawther hit a very deep three and then drove through traffic to finish a paint shot. SGA hit another 3 but Deandre Jordan had a putback for a 46-41 Denver lead. The Thunder hit back-to-back dunks though to force a Malone timeout. MPJ had a 24-second violation and Hartenstein had a finish through an MPJ foul, but Aaron Gordon hit a free-throw-line jumper to keep it a one score game. MPJ hit a 3, but AG and Braun missed multiple deep attempts as OKC pushed its lead to 5. Holmgren blocked an AG dunk and Gordon got robbed of the putback despite the replay review. SGA then stretched the Thunder lead at halftime to 9 as Denver couldn’t score in the last 3 minutes of the half.

Christian Braun and Julian Strawther were not on the same page to open the second half, turning the ball over multiple times and Denver was held scoreless until Zeke Nnaji hit a driving layup. OKC was cold from the field as well as Shai did not play to start the second half. Strawther got called for an illegal screen, Lou Dort hit a tough bank shot over MPJ to make the lead double-digits, and Braun had more bad passes that turned into OKC dunks. Denver got dunked on time after time but Braun’s free throw cut the lead to 72-60 despite that. Christian did hit a layup but bringing Jalen Pickett into the game as the point guard did not make Denver’s offense any more effective. Wiggins hit another three for the Thunder and then hit a paint shot his next time down, but Alexander finally made a 3 for Denver to stop the Thunder from just imposing their will on Denver’s reserves. The Nuggets only scored 18 points in the quarter though, and Ajay Mitchell hit a floater in the waning seconds for OKC to make the lead 16 after three quarters, 87-71.

Dillon Jones opened the scoring for the Thunder with a three, continuing a trend for the Thunder where all the shots were in the paint or beyond the arc. Hunter Tyson had a nice paint finish for Denver and Trey Alexander showed off a baseline jumper, but OKC pushed the lead to 20 regardless. The Nuggets bricked several threes with some poor process, and the Thunder three that took the score to 100-79 forced another Malone timeout. From that point it was a slop-fest to the finish as the deep bench couldn’t take care of the ball or guard anyone, losing the final frame 37-23 and the game 124-94.

Final Thoughts

  • Julian Strawther looks prepared for the regular season. He made shots, ran several stretches as the point guard (though had some turnovers that show he’s not ready for a big role there yet) and played some tough and determined basketball. His handle looked good, he drove the hoop hard regardless of traffic in his way, and made his own opportunities. Strawther looking like an immediate rotation player who not only deserves minutes but also shots and plays drawn up for him is a big help for a bench that needs guys to fill roles and take advantage of every minute on the court.
  • Zeke Nnaji had his best game in… a while. He looked confident shooting the three – making 3 of them! – and had some great defensive possessions up and down the Thunder roster from SGA to Holmgren. The 6 rebounds were also great to see. Yes, this was a game he should look decent in, but actually looking more than decent is a wonder step forward for the Denver forward, who is back at his natural position and looking for a reset after a couple of very tough years.
  • Braun had a rough offensive game. On ball is not his best option against a team as quick and long as OKC, and he never really got settled into a rhythm. He was 3-for-12 with his last make as a baseline layup and just could not get anything going on that end, despite defending multiple 7-footers in the first half and handling that side of the ball pretty well. If this game was an audition for wider potential roles, Braun’s is not going to be as the primary ball-handler any time soon and the shooter part of his job description is still not settled.
  • Denver has not solved the fast break problem nor the open-threes problem. Not fair to judge them with 4 rotation players out, but it’s still a fact that Oklahoma City was outrunning Denver’s attempts at defense and chucking threes at every opportunity. The Nuggets are only going to see more of that until they get a handle on it, so having plenty of film of it in the preseason is a good chance for growth I guess.