The Denver Nuggets started off hot by giving Jamal Murray an easy bucket in a backcut, but they immediately gave up a 3-point shot for George Hill. A few quiet minutes passed with the two sides exchanging errors before Luguentz Dort converted a tray in the transition. Nikola Jokic recovered with a bucket, but Jamal Murray committed a foul that Isaiah Roby converted and turned into a 3-point play.
With 4-8, Jokic managed an easy float to land on Roby before Dort made a triple that was keeping Denver at bay. Jokic saved a big dunk before Will Barton was able to make a tray in the transition to bring the Nuggets back inside one. After an Oklahoma City Thunder turnaround, Barton dropped a 3-point shot to give the team the lead. Murray’s turn led to an easy basket by Darius Bazley.
A serious failure by Murray gave Shai Gilgeous-Alexander a free run to the edge before Barton dropped a triple and forced Thunder to take a break. Denver turned the ball after a Thunder make, but no damage was done. After mistakes on both sides, Jokic scored again with an easy layup. Dort made his own layup to maintain the score in a one-point game. A Jokic foul sent Roby to the line where he hit 2 of 2.
The two teams exchanged mistakes and moves before Jokić made his way to the free throw line, where he was able to regain the lead with a perfect display. Bazley converted a layup before Jokic had a chance to make contact and end up on the line where he finished the 3-point play. Unfortunately, they gave up on an easy 3 point win that gave up the lead again.
Out of a JaMychal Green block, Dort came to the edge for a tray and forced Michael Malone to request a 26-23 timeout. Leaving the timeout, PJ Dozier missed an open shot of 3 points, and Thunder converted one of them to gain a six point advantage. After a 3-point shot missed by Jokic, Thunder converted a reverse tray and gave up 10 consecutive points. The two sides exchanged several errors before Jokic got a second chance tray.
A foul by Facundo Campazzo sent Gilgeous-Alexander to the line, where he failed both attempts before his mistake was eliminated. Campazzo forced a turn and Dozier was able to take down a big 3 point shot. With less than five seconds remaining, Dozier was fouled by a 3-point shot with a chance to tie the game on the line. He converted all three, and we were tied up at age 31 before the second half.
Both sides started the second quarter slowly, before Isaiah Hartenstein fouled at 11:03 am, and he made both attempts to regain the lead. Green found Campazzo for a 3-point shot to increase the lead to five. Denver was in a 15-0 run after Green’s make-up, which led to an OKC timeout with 9:49 remaining. Out of time, Hamidou Diallo grabbed an offensive rebound that turned into a mark and a 3-point play on the line before making for Dozier and Theo Maledon to make a 3-point game.
Denver forced an almost upset by Thunder, but they failed to score a point with him. Diallo drove straight through Green and scored a foul before hitting 1 of 2 on the line. They exchanged the empty goods before Monte Morris converted a beautiful reverse tray. A failure by Mike Muscala led to another transition bucket from Morris. The two sides exchanged wrong mistakes before Campazzo found Morris with a feed between his legs on the counter for an easy tray.
After a time limit for Thunder, each side burned a possession before Bazley hit the easiest 3-point shot of his life, which was answered by Paul Millsap’s dunk. At the other end, Hill managed another triple to fall, and Thunder was pulling Denver back, as they were now down four points. Millsap hit 1 of 2 free throws before the Nuggets forced a turn before returning the move with another.
The Nuggets saved Gilgeous-Alexander by getting him under five seconds on the shooting clock. Millsap closed with a lock, but he missed a tray from the rabbit’s jump in the attack. A foul by Gary Harris sent Shai to the line, where he converted the two kicks. When they tried to hit the ball, Murray shoved Dort down, and Thunder was unable to get them to pay, returning him immediately.
At the other end, Jokic grabbed his own rebound and converted the second chance points before Dort had a big 3 point chance to fall. Barton made a triple of his own and Murray managed to score a free kick from Dort that sent Murray to the line where he had a free throw to the finish. After Hill’s failure, Millsap dropped a triple, and they were leading for nine to 90 seconds from the end of the break. Jokic found a Harris open in the corner and converted the shot to give them a 12-point lead with 60 seconds remaining before Dort’s triple ended it.
Murray went to the basket with 45 seconds left and dropped the tray. On the other hand, Thunder failed to convert. Jokic took advantage of Murray’s mistake and deflected the shot to give him 19 in the first half, and Denver led 65-52 for the break. He had 19 points and eight rebounds at halftime, and was dominating Thunder’s smaller attacking court.
Denver started the first half with a Thunder theft that Jokic turned into an offensive rebound tray. Roby had the ball knocked out by Millsap, but the Nuggets came out empty before Millsap committed an intentional foul on a Dort who sent him to the line, where he converted 1 of 2. The Nuggets missed a pair of kicks in the 3-point range and Thunder returned the favor.
Shai scored the third foul on Millsap, but he made just 1 of 2 on the line. After some difficult possessions, Harris found Millsap in the corner for a triple to take a 16 point lead. They exchanged errors again before Dort entered an easy tray. Not to be outdone, Jokic walked straight to the edge for a tray that forced OKC to call another timeout by 16. Leaving the timeout, Harris stole from Shai, and Harris was rewarded with a corner three for his efforts.
With 19 minus points, Thunder was empty in an open triple, and so did Denver. Roby finally stopped the race with a Euro-step layup around Jokic. Barton was called on a trip and Gilgeous-Alexander went to work for a tray in Murray. After a poor play by Denver, Thunder managed an easy dunk that forced Malone’s frustration timeout to go up 13. In the timeout, Millsap grabbed another offensive rebound and converted a tray that gave him a double-double in the night.
Denver gave up on an easy bucket on the other side before Jokic found Morris for a tray. With a 15-point lead, Barton managed to have a medium-range jumper fall with 4:45 left in the quarter. Jokic grabbed a rebound to get a double-double before Millsap converted another layup to stretch the lead back to 19 before a 3-point shot from Thunder. Jokic found Millsap, who found Morris in the corner to win a triple. Jokic hit Barton with an outgoing pass, which gave Harris an easy dunk with a flashy pass.
Lost by 21, Gilgeous-Alexander came to the edge for a tray to stop the Nuggets’ 11-3 run before Jokic took down a long jumper. A failure by Jokic led to an opportunity to transition to Thunder, but it came to nothing. With less than two minutes left, Barton fed Jokic an easy tray while Denver was working to increase his lead before SGA converted a finger-roll. Jokic hit Harris in the corner, giving him the 11th point of the night and giving the team five players in double figures the night.
Jokic hit Morris with a tray pass, and Denver was running with the clock running in the room. Morris lost an open triple, and Thunder made them call by pulling a foul on Jokic. Mike Muscala dropped a triple with the clock almost gone, and Denver led 97-74 in the fourth period. This game gave Jokic his 14th consecutive double-double at the start of the season.
Denver started the fourth quarter with a triple of Green, and it looked like the holders were closed for Denver except for a massive breakdown of the second unit. The SGA had 1 of 2 on the line, and the Nuggets had an empty ball in the attack, after an offensive foul by Hartenstein. A failure by Thunder turned into a throwing basket by Green against Muscala, before Hartenstein knocked Josh Hall out of a make, but he missed the only free throw.
Green attempted a huge dunk he failed to convert, and Thunder went from coast to coast to score 79-102, which forced Malone to request a timeout. Going out of range, Green barely missed a triple, but Thunder saved him with a turn. Morris found Dozier for a 3-point shot from the wing, but Diallo responded immediately with one of his own.
Hartenstein reached the rim for a tray and converted the free kick before completing the 3-point play. Denver scored a foul on the Thunder, and they increased their lead to 28 on the other end. Denver turned the ball over, which gave OKC an easy tray before Green immediately threw the ball out for another turn. Hartenstein failed to pull a foul on Thunder, and the two sides were playing very badly trading empty goods back and forth with 7:00 remaining.
After more than a minute with no points, Green converted another 3-point shot to increase the lead to 29 before OKC called for another time. The banks were clearing with RJ Hampton and Bol Bol now in the game. OKC and Denver exchanged errors and losses before a long triple by Justin Jackson put the score again. Zeke Nnaji had also entered the game and manifested himself with a foul by Hall, who hit both free throws.
Hampton fouled Jackson, and he placed himself in the scoring column with a couple of free throws. Dozier left and Vlatko Čančar joined the game. Jackson scored in another 3-point long shot. The score had yielded, and each side was receiving a few buckets for its end of the bench, including a big dunk from Bol. with an out of control drive.
Denver was back to 0.500 with this convincing victory. Not everyone will be so easy and it was important to give beginners a good rest at the end of the game. In the future, the goal is to bring this game to a future success in the future, after a convincing 119-101 victory over Thunder.
Stat leaders
Points: Nikola Jokic – 27
Assists: Will Barton and Jokic – 6
Rebounds: Paul Millsap and Jokic – 12
Player in play: Nikola Jokic 27 points, 12 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 12-21 field goals, 0-4 3 points, 3-3 free throws