DENVER – Throughout the night, the Thunder kept getting confronted with some crucial roadblocks. For an extended stretch in the fourth quarter, it looked like that trend might go by the wayside, but a late Thunder swoon and Denver Nuggets charge turned the tide for good.
Despite a furious fourth quarter rally to come back from 18 points down, the Thunder succumbed to a trio of issues that were a problem in the first half - fouls, turnovers and second chances - and ultimately fell 121-112 to the Nuggets on Tuesday night.
In a matchup of the top two teams of the Northwest Division and the number two and three seeds in the Western Conference, the Thunder and Nuggets went toe to toe for 48 minutes in a relentless battle that saw both teams show flashes of excellence along with some lapses in play. In the first quarter it was mostly neck and neck, but the Thunder racked up 8 fouls compared to just 3 for Denver and that began to add up. For the game, the Thunder fouled 34 times, accumulated some unfortunate foul trouble, and the Nuggets converted 26 of 35 free throw attempts.
"That was the biggest thing in the game," said Head Coach Billy Donovan of the fouls.
Just before the first half came to a close, the Nuggets ripped off a 12-3 run, culminating in a pair of three-pointers for center Nikola Jokic, a 30 percent three-point shooter on the season who made 4-of-7 threes tonight. The Thunder was unable to curtail the Nuggets from behind the arc and Denver built up a nearly instantaneous 13-point halftime lead. Over-helping in the middle of the floor led to open shots on the perimeter. In the fourth quarter that same over-helping resulted in offensive rebounds for Denver, including three big ones for Paul Millsap inside the final four minutes.
Throughout the game turnovers were an issue for both teams, and as they racked up so went the game flow. Through the first three quarters the Thunder had 14 giveaways, giving away possessions that could have helped mitigate 2-for-18 three-point shooting in the first half. Jerami Grant racked up 12 points in the third quarter to get the positive vibes going, and to start the fourth quarter, the Thunder forced Denver into five turnovers on its first 10 possessions of the period. That’s when Donovan’s club made its strike.
With the second unit on the floor, the Thunder ripped off an 18-2 burst to overcome a 13-point deficit and turn it into a 100-97 advantage with 6 minutes to go. Sparked by a five-point possession on which center Nerlens Noel was fouled on a putback layup, then Paul George snagged the missed free throw and hit a three-pointer, the Thunder surged back into the ball game and gave itself a chance in crunch time.
"Through the fourth quarter I think guys started communicating better and we were able to get the stops that we needed to get us back in the ballgame," said Noel. "When we’re moving like that and guys are all on a string it makes it that much easier."
“We figured out how to penetrate the defense and how to get stops on the defensive end,” said forward Markieff Morris.
The gas ran out on the Thunder’s burst, however, and the Nuggets immediately responded with points after three second chances by Millsap, a corner three from Jamal Murray after the Thunder help defense lingered in the lane too long and then Noel’s sixth and final foul on a reach in on Jokic. It was just a three-point deficit for the Thunder at that point, but Noel’s disruptive defense on Denver’s orchestrator had been a factor in the fourth. With that chess piece off the table and the momentum turning, the Thunder lost hold of the rope.
After Noel fouled out, the Thunder committed three turnovers and the Nuggets ran off a 12-4 spurt to create the separation it needed to run out the clock in the final minute.
“Some mental mistakes, honestly,” said Russell Westbrook.
"We had some things that we were able to control that we didn’t do a good enough job [of] and that part of it was disappointing because the guys, I thought, battled and worked so hard to get back in the game to give ourselves a chance but those were things that were self-inflicted, so to speak, that we kind of put on ourselves,” added Donovan.
It was a tough loss for a hungry Thunder squad, who has now dropped three out of four games after ripping off 12 wins in 13 contests before the All-Star Break. Heading back to Oklahoma City, the Thunder will battle a Philadelphia 76ers squad on Thursday night before embarking on a home-road back-to-back with San Antonio and Memphis over the weekend.
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