For the first time this season, the Oklahoma City Thunder came out of a game as losers.
In a hotly contested game, the Denver Nuggets beat OKC 124-122, stopping Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s attempt at a game-tying layup as time expired.
Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams singlehandedly kept the Thunder afloat on the offensive end, combining for 57 points and scoring the last four baskets of the game for OKC. Nikola Jokic ran the show for Denver, putting up an absurd 23-20-16 and shredding the Thunder defense with his usual blend of high-level passing and punishing paint offense.
Jokic was aided by an unusual cast of characters as Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon were watching from the sidelines with injuries. Christian Braun scored 24 on 4-8 shooting from deep, Russell Westbrook had one of his best games in recent memory with 29-6-6 and Michael Porter Jr. went ballistic, scoring 21 points in the second half and showing off what led some to believe he was a special offensive talent coming out of Missouri — his movement shooting.
On the side of the Thunder, it’s difficult to find too much to criticize. Gilgeous-Alexander and Williams played as well have they have all season and knocked down tough shots down the stretch. The defense was great in the first half and then Jokic’s surrounding cast started knocking down shots. The team played through an incredibly physical game, something that Denver has done well with over the past few years and OKC has struggled with.
If there is anything to complain about, it would be the defense on Denver’s cutters. Is it a near-impossible task to shut down a Jokic offense when his teammates are hitting shots? Yes. Is it acceptable to allow Westbrook, who has struggled this season, to feast on cuts to the rim, the only place he is a consistent threat on the offense end? No.
However, the reality of Wednesday’s loss is that OKC lost the same way so many teams have fallen to Denver over the past handful of years — Jokic singlehandedly being an elite offense.
In the first half, Jokic was finding outside shooters and cutters, but cutters wouldn’t be looking for the ball or players would miss open shots, as has been the case for a lot of this season with Denver. When Jokic is surrounded by players who can make defenses not immediately crash on him, Denver’s offense is a buzzsaw.
The nature of the loss is tough, as OKC had a chance to tie or win the game as time expired. However, in the long run, this was always going to happen. Losing to Denver on a day in which Westbrook turns back the clock and matches the production of Jamal Murray and Braun plays as well as the Nuggets could reasonably hope for is nothing for OKC to hang its head about.
