The Thunder got down by 14 right off the bat but clawed back with a strong defensive effort by the second unit. Every time the Thunder charged at Denver, however, the Nuggets had an answer, including multiple spurts in the second half.
Game Flow
The Nuggets first four shots were all layups, either backdoor cuts or straight-line drives. Denver’s Jamal Murray buried a wide-open corner three-pointer and suddenly the Thunder was knocked back into a defensive posture right away, down 18-4. Billy Donovan stemmed the rip tide with a pair of early timeouts, and as the second unit came into the game the Thunder’s defensive walls held up.
After allowing 22 points in the first 6:03 of the first quarter, the Thunder’s defense dug in and limited Denver to just 5 points for the remaining 5:57 of the period, giving itself a fighting chance over the final 36 minutes. Defenders were more glued to cutters, hands were up in passing lanes and the Thunder stymied Denver on the offensive glass.
“We obviously didn’t get off to a good start, but I give our guys a lot of credit for fighting back and getting it manageable at the half,” Donovan said.
The Thunder struggled to shoot from behind the arc all night but got back-to-back threes from Abdel Nader and Dennis Schröder as a part of a 9-0 spurt to pull within 44-41 with 2:10 to go in the first half.
Right on the precipice of a complete reversal of momentum, the Thunder turned the ball over and immediately afterwards, Denver’s Nikola Jokic knocked down the two of his three made three-pointers in the game.
After halftime, the Thunder’s offense sputtered, only putting together 19 points in the third quarter while Jokic, who finished with 28-point, 14-rebound, 12-assist triple-double, picked OKC’s defense apart with passes out of the high post and offensive putbacks. Denver scored 14 points off of 10 offensive boards in the game and rolled up a 16-point advantage on the Thunder.
Never relenting, the Thunder got 15 fourth quarter points from Schröder to stay in the game, but the other major factor in the outcome reared its head. On the night the Thunder gave up 15 turnovers, actually one fewer than the Nuggets, but Denver turned those giveaways into an incredibly efficient 27 points. Punishing the Thunder’s mistakes, Denver was able to hold off OKC’s late rallies.
“We just started out extremely flat,” said Nader. “We weren’t getting out in transition. We were just letting guys get to whatever spot they wanted. After that, we kind of got our energy up a little bit and fought back in. You know, starting to play the right way and doing the little things that gave us a chance. But, unfortunately, when you start like that it hurts you the whole game.”
Decisive Moments
Thanks mostly to Schröder and a slick fast break layup from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the Thunder cut the Nuggets lead to 93-88 with about 7 minutes remaining. Once again though, Denver had an answer, reeling off 9-straight points including a dubious steal and runout layup by Gary Harris. Jokic buried his third three of the game and the Nuggets were never threatened from there.
Play of the Game
In the midst of the Thunder’s fourth quarter spurt to get it back to a two-possession game, Steven Adams reeled in one of his 6 offensive rebounds in the game and dished it back out to Schröder. The German guard, who finished with 22 points, drove middle and bounced the ball off the foot of Nuggets forward Torrey Craig. There was no call, so Schröder dove on the floor, snatched the loose ball and sat in the middle of the lane with no options. Suddenly, his longtime NBA friend Mike Muscala was cutting baseline and Schröder bounced the pass from his seated position to the forward who slipped in a layup.
Stat of the Night2,164
Career steals for Chris Paul, who passed Hakeem Olajuwon for 8th all-time on the NBA’s steals list. Paul had 4 steals in the game, including some crashing over from help-side position and another while diving for a pass on the baseline, which was awarded to the Thunder as a Nuggets turnover and Paul steal. Paul also scored 15 points on 5-for-8 shooting to go with 10 assists.
“I’ve been playing for a long time. It’s an honor and a privilege, but I’m definitely trying to catch Mo [Maurice] Cheeks,” grinned Chris Paul, referencing the Thunder assistant coach who is fifth on the all-time steals list.
Quotes of the Night
“This was a game where we needed to have our defense be really elite, but we had some breakdowns, some missed opportunities, some blown coverages, and we couldn’t overcome those things. We got close, but we weren’t able to get a win.” –Head Coach Billy Donovan
“We just dug ourselves a big hole. They got going early. We played well in spurts, but we’ve been saying it all season long we need to put 48 minutes together. We definitely needed to pick up the intensity.” –Chris Paul
Looking Ahead
After completing its four-game road trip and completing its fifth game in its fifth city across three time zones in nine nights, the Thunder heads back to Oklahoma City for a crucial, much-needed homestand. Chesapeake Energy Arena will play host to five consecutive home games over the next two weeks, beginning on Monday when the Chicago Bulls come to town.