Undermanned Thunder Fall to Nuggets Behind Jokic's Big Night
The injury report has struck again.
Headed into Saturday's matchup, the Oklahoma City Thunder were expected to go full-steam ahead with the return of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Instead, the guard was called a late scratch, and Josh Giddey was ruled out for the remainder of the season.
The absences showed – sliding to the Denver Nuggets 113-107.
For Oklahoma City, the loss swings them back into the losing column, now ranking fourth in reverse standings with a 21-53 record.
The Thunder shoveled some success around the basket to open play, finding their first 10 points in the paint for a one-possession game. However, once paint play stagnated, Oklahoma City eased up – and Denver took advantage. Backed by 11 first-quarter points from Nikola Jokic, the Nuggets struck a 32-25 lead through one frame.
Oklahoma City rallied around the three for the second frame, downing their first trio of baskets outside. The issue – Denver found their rhythm at all three levels, opening the wounds for a double-digit deficit by the midportion of the frame. Following a 7-0 Thunder run to close shop, they trailed 58-49.
Darius Bazley headed toward the tunnel in the backend of the half, leaving the game with a right knee sprain.
The Thunder cut the deficit to one-possession three minutes into the half following an 11-4 opening stand. In response, Mike Malone force-fed the ball to Denver’s frontcourt, surging their lead back to double-digits. Leading into the final frame, Denver led 87-76.
As the leader of the frontcourt, Jokic finished the contest with 35 points, 12 rebounds, and eight assists for Denver.
A Tre Mann stepback three drew Oklahoma City within three with 9:35 to play in the period. By the midway mark, a Theo Maledon layup had knotted the game at 97 all. After four ties, the Nuggets pushed a 5-0 run in the final minute – the Thunder had no response.
Despite shooting 25.8% on three-pointers, the Nuggets hounded the Thunder inside the entire game, taking the points in the paint battle 64-48.
Oklahoma City hung around for the full 48 minutes as driven by a 38.9-percent clip (14-of-36) on threes – they stamped multiple double-digit swings on the night.
Moved into the starting core, Theo Maledon had a solid performance under the spotlight. In the 20-year-old’s 32 minutes, he tallied 20 points to pair with three assists. Theo’s role has been fairly spotty up until last month. While given the time, the combo guard has blossomed working inside.
Tre Mann knocked in 15 points across his 33 minutes of run. Mann has taken the driver’s seat with SGA and Giddey both missing time, and he’s not shied away from his style of play. As the primary option, Mann banded together his collection of stepbacks and dribble-drives for 15 shot attempts.
Aleksej Pokusevski added 17 points and five rebounds on the night. Pokusevski impressed a fellow Serb in Jokic, downing a pair of buckets from distance.
Lindy Waters III excelled from deep-range drilling four triples on the night for 14 points. Since his contract conversion, Waters III has become a valuable shooter both off-the-catch and on the move.
Next up, the Oklahoma City Thunder will take on the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday evening.
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