The Denver Nuggets lost to the Oklahoma City Thunder 121-111 in a matchup that lived up to its billing for much of three quarters. The Thunder pulled away thanks to some brilliant three point shooting after Denver closed it to within three halfway through the third quarter. Denver couldn’t recover from the Thunder’s run and OKC pulled away for the comfortable victory.
Nikola Jokic had 16 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists in 29 minutes as he played a little more than expected, while Peyton Watson led Denver with 29 points and 5 boards. Jamal Murray had 12 points and 12 assists but was just 4-of-16 from the field and despite making 15 threes on 45% of their attempts the Nuggets just couldn’t keep pace with the Thunder.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led all scorers with 34 points, 13 assists and 5 rebounds and Cason Wallace hit a career-high 7 threes as the Thunder made 19 as a team to go with 22-of-27 from the line to secure the win. The first matchup of the year between the Western Conference’s top title threats went to the Thunder, with each squad learning a bit more about how this year’s matchup will have to be played.
Game Flow
Peyton Watson had his shot blocked and the first points of the game go to the Thunder on a Cason Wallace three. Jalen Pickett cut to the hoop and Jamal Murray found him, then grabbed a rebound but Watson missed a three. Isaiah Hartenstein tipped in a shot over Jokic, then Jamal made a pullup, but another Wallace three gave OKC the early 8-4 lead. Murray made a turnaround baseline floater over Lu Dort, SGA made a nice shot and Watson exchanged threes with Dort. Watson had a spectacular dunk but Shai answered right back. The Thunder led 19-12 halfway through a fast-paced first.
Jokic hit a paint hook on his first shot attempt, Aaron Wiggins hit a three but Spencer Jones answered right back from deep for the Nuggets off a behind-the-head pass from Jokic. Wallace hit free throws, Watson made a pullup, and Jenrich Williams answered back as Spence grabbed a rebound but threw it right to Kenrich. Watson hit a three for Denver to cut the OKC lead to 5 at 27-22 with three minutes to go. The teams swapped misses and rebounding scuffles. Denver got wiped on the offensive glass and Williams made another three, but Hardaway got to the line, Bruce Brown blocked Jaylin Williams’s shot, and Denver trailed after one 32-26.
Bruce Brown got a pair of free throws to open the quarter, making one, but Denver struggled again with turnovers. Jonas Valanciunas made a corner three somehow, answered by Isaiah Joe, and SGA got back to the line for the Thunder. Julian Strawther and SGA traded paint buckets, then Gilgeous-Alexander hit an incredibly tough jumper through terrific defense from Bruce Brown to put the Thunder up 10, 42-32. Big Val got a dunk, Isaiah Joe hit a three and SGA got back to the line. Mal made a two for Denver, and Strawther traded threes with Joe. Lu Dort hit yet another three for OKC and SGA abused Watson for made it a 14 point lead. Strawther and Murray hit a couple of threes for Denver though to fight back and force a Thunder timeout. Denver forced a couple of turnovers but could not take advantage. Strawther and Holmgren got tangled up with a foul called on Julian but overturned on review, but Murray missed the three afterward. Watson grabbed a defensive rebound as the physical intensity picked up and made one-of-two but Hartenstein got called for a rebounding foul and Jokic made both his free throws. Jokic had only two field goal attempts in the first half but he had a great paint shot in the closing seconds and Wallace made yet another three to give OKC the 62-55 lead at halftime.
Jokic hit a shot to open the third quarter, then Chet missed but he blocked Jamal’s shot going the other way. Wallace hit another three for OKC, SGA hit a nice stepback and Pickett answered with a foot on the line. Hartenstein made a layup over Jokic, then Jokic got to the line via Holmgren contact. Wallace and Watson traded threes, the Watson traded pullups with SGA. Jamal got blocked by Chet but Jokic put in the rebound, then Joker led the break to a Watson-to-Picket three pointer to cut it to 74-70 OKC. Watson made a free throw, and Jokic answered a Holmgren three with one of his own. Jamal Murray continued Denver’s habit of not defending Cason Wallace and Wallace made his 6th and 7th threes of the game thanks to that, pushing OKC’s lead back up to 9. A timeout didn’t cool off OKC as Shai made OKC’s 16th three in 32 attempts so far, then Wiggins made another three. Jonas and Shai traded buckets, then Bruce Brown made a three. Watson blocked SGA but Jonas turned it over and Williams made a three as the Thunder just scorched Denver from downtown. Murray got to the line and Watson made a floater but nothing could stop OKC who won the quarter by 9 and led 101-85 after three.
Jokic came back out to start the fourth to see if Denver could make a run, but Hardaway and Brown both missed threes and Wallace attacked the rim for another bucket. Spencer Jones forced a turnover, Bruce Brown got to the line, and Jokic hit a floater. But Wiggins made a three to stop the run, and despite Watson making a three of his own Denver still trailed 107-92. Holmgren made free throws, Bruce answered with a three, but Denver could not slow down OKC. Spencer Jones made a three and Watson had a layup and a three but SGA and Chet both kept OKC easily in front despite Jokic coming back for an ill-advised last stint that pushed him over his minutes restrictions despite Denver trailing by double digits. Jokic had a couple of turnovers, one leading to a Wallace dunk that put the Thunder up 120-103 and took Nikola back out of the game for good as garbage time commenced. The game wasn’t as close as the final score of 121-111 made it seem, unfortunately.
Final Thoughts
–Can’t win if you refuse to adjust. The Nugget did not gameplan for OKC to shoot 50% from deep for three quarters, and it showed. They also did not adjust. Every guard and wing in Denver’s rotation made the same defensive mistakes covering the arc, so either they all misunderstood the game plan or it was not a good game plan for OKC’s attack. The Nuggets shot very well from deep themselves, but it just wasn’t enough. It’s hard to win a firefight against a team that makes nearly 50 percent of its three pointers through three quarters, but some nights it’s just like that.
–This is a good reminder for the reserves about what it takes to win in the West. A lot of these guys didn’t play against the Thunder last year, including new vets Tim Hardaway Jr. and Jonas Valanciunas. And it didn’t go well for some of those guys, but this is a different level of physicality and execution than they faced against Eastern Conference squads in their time without Jokic. Jokic would normally have played 8-10 more minutes in this one, only logging 29 thanks to the minutes restriction, but that meant there was more time for the rest of the guys to get used to staying competitive on every possession.
I expect the next game against the Thunder to go differently – especially if Denver gets some more guys back – but everything the rest of the year is reacclimating to the return of Denver’s starters and finding the right bench. Games like this are a nice measuring stick and a barometer for what will be needed in the playoffs, but ultimately Denver just needs to learn from it and move on. This is not when these games will truly matter, and the only goal the Nuggets need to have is to make sure they are ready for the ones in the postseason.
