Thunder Road Trip Ends With a 110-102 Loss to the Nuggets
The Oklahoma City Thunder will be happy to see the Friendly confines of the Peake on Monday when they return home after going 2-2 on their longest road trip of the season. The Thunder were never a serious threat to the Nuggets despite being within five midway through the fourth quarter. The Nuggets walkway with 110-102 win that at times didn't feel that close.
After leading 2-0, the Thunder would play catch up all night long as Denver went on a 20-4 run to start the game. Steven Adams would finish with a double-double, as usual, there was no answer for Nikola Jokic. The Nuggets seven-footer tormented Adams and anyone else who thought they could guard him. Jokic racked up his 32nd triple-double of his career (28-12-14) while shooting a more than efficient 11-14 from the floor.
Danilo Gallinari had his worst night since joining the Thunder. Gallinari was 1-13 from the floor for scoring a less than impressive seven points. Gallinari, either out of frustration or just trying to find something to feel good about, took a 27 foot three with 48.9 seconds left. A shot so off that was reminiscent of your local guy at the Y doing a heat check.
The shot summed up Gallinari's night, however, the Thunder fought to stay in this game for a good 47 minutes. Dennis Schroder leads the way with 22 off the bench, Abdel Nader exploded for 10 points in 12 minutes and finished with 14 points. Steven Adams scored 18 and grabbed 14 rebounds. Former Thunder Jerami Grant got to start in place of the injured Paul Millsap. Grant gave the Nuggets 32 minutes, with 13 points going 4 of 8 from the field. Chris Paul had 4 steals, he is now 8th on the all-time NBA steals list sandwiched in between two Rockets Clyde Drexler and Hakeem Olajuwon.
The Thunder are now 11-14 and in a tight race for a spot in the playoffs. Six of the next eight are at home, starting with the Bulls on Monday. Chicago is coming off a 10-106 win over the Clippers without Kawhi Leonard. Tipoff is a 7 on Fox Sports Oklahoma, 98.1 WWLS, and 97.1 The Sports Animal in Tulsa.
