Giddey, Gilgeous-Alexander Shine as Thunder Fall to Nuggets

In another tightly-contested matchup, the Oklahoma City Thunder were defeated 122-117 by the Denver Nuggets on Saturday night. Despite the loss, OKC finished with six players scoring in double figures.

Led once again by fifth-year guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander; Josh Giddey, Mike Muscala, Lu Dort, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl and Tre Mann all pitched in double digit outputs. SGA, Muscala and Giddey’s performances, however, all stood out from the rest.

Unsurprisingly, Gilgeous-Alexander was the Thunder’s leading scorer on Saturday, notching 28 points and seven assists. The Kentucky product had recurring success when driving into the paint and contorting his body to find an open shooter on the perimeter, with Muscala being on the receiving end for many of these kick out dimes.

SGA’s nifty passing helped open up the lane for Gilgeous-Alexander, who dominated the game as a slasher on an off-night from behind the arc. Of his 11 made shots, only one came from 3-point range.

As the contest wore on, the Nuggets defense appeared to become more fatigued, and began to foul the former Clipper on his way to the basket. These successful trips to the free throw line helped Oklahoma City remain in contention in the second half.

For Giddey, Saturday evening marked his second double-double in two games as the Australian guard finished with 19 points, 12 rebounds and six assists. The 6-foot-8 ball handler knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers against Denver, once again looking more confident letting the ball fly from deep.

As we’ve seen previously, Giddey continued to whip one-handed lasers around the court to his open teammates, who on multiple occasions were unable to capitalize on a perfect setup from the former Adelaide 36er.

Late in the fourth quarter, Giddey leaped up to grab a rebound and was undercut by a Nuggets defender, sending the 2021 lottery pick onto his back. As he tumbled to the floor, Giddey just managed to let off a bounce pass to Mann, who took the ball to the rim for the game-tying basket.

After a quiet opening night, Muscala was a major beneficiary of OKC’s drive-and-kick game in Denver. The Thunder big man connected on four 3-pointers, each of them coming off of kick out passes after the Nuggets defense collapsed on slashing guards.

“Moose” as he is known by Thunder fans, tallied 18 points and six rebounds in only 19 minutes on the floor. If Muscala can consistently knock down catch-and-shoot 3-pointers like he did against the Nuggets, the 10-year veteran will certainly earn a larger role in OKC’s rotation.

Oklahoma City will open its 2022-23 home slate against the Minnesota Timberwolves at 7 p.m. on October 24.

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