The Denver Nuggets and Oklahoma City Thunder played an instant November Classic tonight, with Denver coming back from a 16-point deficit to down the Thunder 124-122 at the buzzer on a Peyton Watson block of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s layup attempt. Nikola Jokic had an obscene 23 point, 20 rebound, 16 assist night but Watson’s heroics after flubbing both his final-minute free throws put the exclamation point on an incredible finish. Christian Braun added 24 points and 8 boards while playing great defense, MPJ had 21 second-half points and buried 6 threes – and Denver needed all of them. SGA had 28 points and 6 assists but his 8 turnovers helped Denver turn the tide, and Jalen Willams’s 29 couldn’t quite close the deal. Denver avenged its opening night hand the Thunder their first loss of the season, and served notice that even without Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon the Nuggets are not a team to take lightly.
Game Recap
Isaiah Joe opened the scoring for OKC with a three, while Russell Westbrook answered with a jumper and a three. Jokic had a paint bucket but Lu Dort had a three of his own for the Thunder, and a pair of layups from Oklahoma City made it 14-7 already. Christian Braun made a pair of free throws, Porter missed a 3 and a layup, and Jokic had his shot blocked as Denver struggled to finish early. Peyton Watson missed a three badly, Russ got a tech for arguing against a charge call but then finished a nice layup off a Jokic pass. Jokic threw a full court outlet to Braun to cut it to 17-13, and then MPJ buried a three to close to within 1. Isaiah Joe hit a 3 for OKC though, and Jalen Williams finished at the rim but Braun made a pair of free throws and a 3 to answer. Peyton Watson missed another 3 and had a bad turnover for an Ousmane Dieng dunk and a 26-21 OKC lead. Jokic made a layup and a great assist for a cutting Hunter Tyson, sandwiched around a Dieng 3. Jokic made 3 of 4 free throws after another OKC 3 (they were 6-for-12 in the quarter as Denver showed some zone defense) and Russ had a pair of his own, but Denver trailed after one at 32-30.
Zeke Nnaji started the second quarter for Denver making one-of-two from the line. Jalen Williams buried yet another 3 for OKC, Westbrook turned the ball over after a missed MPJ long 2, but Nnaji tipped in a miss and Russ buried a 3 to tie it. Porter airballed a three while OKC made a pair of shots as Denver went cold. The Nuggets were down 7 when Jokic checked back in and immediately buried a three. Julian Strawther got in early foul trouble again, picking up his third as Aaron WIggins finished a traditional 3-point play, then Holmgren buried a regular 3 for to put OKC up by double-digits, 49-39. Jokic passed to Watson in the dunker spot for Peyton’s first bucket and Braun got back to the line as Denver clawed its way back. Russ made a pair of free throws of his own. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander hit a paint runner for the Thunder over a sliding Watson, then a baseline jumper, answered by a Russ layup. Russ was everywhere in the first half, and a steal by Jokic turned into a Westbrook dunk to cut the deficit to 4. Jokic hit a turnaround through double-team contact, but Isaiah Joe and SGA kept making buckets. Braun hit a 3, Holmgren had an OKC layup, and Denver let go of the rope a bit at the end of the quarter as turnovers and misses turned into Thunder layups. The Thunder went into halftime up 66-55.
MPJ buried an opening three to begin the second half, answered by Lu Dort after a poor turnover from Braun attempting to get the ball to Jokic. Watson also turned the ball over just on the dribble for a layup, but finished a dunk the next time down. Mike made a stepback, but fouled SGA going the other way. Jokic missed a layup, then had a turnover as Denver came out of the half flat. Malone got a tech arguing non-calls on fouls against Jokic as Denver fell behind by 16 when MPJ and Westbrook made a pair of threes. Braun’s 3 cut it to 10 and forced an OKC timeout. Isaiah Joe made another three for OKC though, Jokic banked in shot off the block, and a Westbrook-forced turnover turned into a Jokic-assisted layup for Westbrook to cut it to 84-75. Jokic still could not buy a whistle as the Thunder beat him with kayak paddles, but he made a layup, Julian Strawther hit a spinning floater on a rebound, and then Strawther hit a 3 that forced a Thunder timeout to cap a 19-6 run and make it a one score game. A Watson block led to an MPJ three to tie it, then Mike’s free throws put Denver up 89-87 as he had 13 points in the quarter. Both teams ramped up the speed with transition attempts and Mike had more free throws, answered by Chet’s tip-in. Jokic backed Chet into the paint for a bucket that got him to 20 points, and SGA got the foul calls that Jokic could not. Nnaji airballed a 3, Strawther missed a Jokic pass, but Jokic grabbed a rebound and finish with a second left in the quarter to tie it at 95.
The pace of play stayed furious to open the fourth, with fouls and transition attempts in both directions. Russ and Shai exchanged buckets, both made free throws, MPJ buried a three and Wiggins made an OKC layup to put the Thunder up 104-103 when Jokic came back in at the 8:43 mark. Denver had a couple of brutal failed rebounds and loose ball issues but OKC couldn’t capitalize. Braun missed a layup in traffic, MPJ had a three go in and out, and OKC got in the bonus early thanks to overly aggressive fouls on defense from the Nuggets. Jokic missed a three as Denver had a cold shooting touch, but forced Holmgren into a baseline turnover. Watson made a free throw to break a 4 minute scoreless streak for the Nuggets, Strawther found Braun for a bank shot to tie it up, and MPJ’s three after Alex Caruso’s first bucket put Denver up 109-108. Braun swished a three, SGA got free throws up for OKC, and both teams scrambled wildly until Watson buried a three after Jokic recovered a blocked tip by Holmgren. Chen then hit his own three to close the gap to 117-113, and after a missed transition bucket by Braun it was Julian Strawther’s follow dunk that brought the crowd to its feet. Strawther then had two free throws the next time down to get Denver’s lead to 6, and Jokic forced an over-and-back turnover on Shai. Watson made a great transition finish but double-clutched the next time down and Jaylin Williams buried another three to close it to a three-point game with under a minute to go. Jokic made a free throw but Watson missed both of his to leave the door open, but as SGA drove the lane for a layup he was blocked by Peyton Watson on a spectacular play at the buzzer to seal the deal. Final score was 124-122 Denver.
Final Thoughts
So much good in this game I don’t know where to begin. Nikola Jokic had a stat line not seen since Oscar Robertson and that was only the start. Christian Braun played phenomenal defense on SGA all night, contributing to the 8 turnovers from the OKC star, and Christian also put up 24 points to go with 8 boards. After a first half where he made one shot, MPJ exploded for 21 second half points to go with his 7 rebounds for the game. Strawther had crucial passes and buckets and played with wild abandon despite being in foul trouble again, and Denver needed every bit of it. Set up to be the scapegoat after blowing both free throws in the waning seconds, Watson launched himself for the game-saving block at the buzzer. So many great things in this one – a game that not only ended OKC’s unbeaten streak but served to give Denver’s more inexperienced players a playoff atmosphere and classic finish in November. That’s something that could pay big dividends down the line.
And then there was Russ. Denver struggled so badly for the first 30 minutes of this game, down 16 almost halfway through the third, but Westbrook kept them in it. He had 19 first half points and despite his four turnovers in the first two quarters he ran the offense with Jokic brilliantly. He finished with 29 / 6 / 6 and also had zero turnovers in the second half as Denver mounted that comeback. This is the Westbrook that Denver was hoping to see when they signed him – the player who set the pace and energy but could also form a duo with Jokic when needed and be a real leader on the floor to help the young players keep their heads up during the learning curve. Mission accomplished tonight for sure.
