Nuggets Hand Thunder Second Loss Behind Jokic's 78th Triple-Double

The Thunder failed to spoil the Denver Nuggets' home opener in a 122-117 loss at Ball Arena in a game that featured Nikola Jokic’s 78th triple-double and Jamal Murray’s return to regular season basketball in front of his home crowd. Both teams exchanged the lead 11 times, exemplifying the competitiveness in tonight’s match.

The first quarter opened up with a bevy of misses from the Thunder behind five missed 3-pointers from Luguentz Dort. The Nuggets were able to build a small lead early behind three triples from Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.

The Thunder were able to catch up due to some stellar play from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Darius Bazley who was able to make two defensive stops and knock down two threes off the bench before Tre Mann hit a deep triple to bring the score to 29-26 to close out the quarter.

Both offenses seem to really slow down to start the second quarter behind multiple missed shots from the Nuggets and Thunder. However, Aaron Wiggins was able to give his team a seven-point cushion after drilling a three to build the lead to 35-28.

The second frame was marred by numerous foul calls that would put both teams in the bonus. This seemed to benefit the Nuggets as the pace seemed to all but come to a grinding halt.

Two-time MVP Nikola Jokic settled his team down enough to chip away at and earn back the lead, but Gilgeous-Alexander and Josh Giddey and some stellar Thunder defense were able to stop the bleeding to tie things up 55-55 heading into halftime.

Coming out of the break, the Nuggets broke open a 9-point lead behind a balanced offensive attack from Jokic and Murray, who seemed to have it going, bringing the score to 70-61.

The Thunder’s struggles with fouling continued as they sent the opposition to the charity stripe over and over, helping Denver enter into the bonus before the six-minute mark yet again.

Thanks to a technical foul called on Murray and a couple of buckets from Mike Muscala, the Thunder were able to cut the lead to four, but some hot shooting from beyond Denver’s arc and frustrating whistles continued to do damage.

But the Thunder were able to capitalize on some offensive momentum to stop the bleeding. The team was able to put some points on the board after Muscala hit two deep threes and a few buckets from Mann and Gilgeous-Alexander to close out the third, down 85-88.

The final quarter started with the officials continuing to put air into their whistles. Both Mann and Giddey were able to earn back-to-back ‘and-1’ opportunities before a corner three from Jeremiah Robinson-Earl put the Thunder up 94-91.

The game seemingly turned into a three-point shooting contest as players from both sides attempted triple after triple. Denver was able to re-take the lead to go up 111-106 in the middle of the fourth behind two Caldwell-Pope threes.

After back-to-back timeouts by Mark Daigneault, the Thunder focused the efforts on earning their first regular season win, the game appeared to reach a stalemate before Aaron Gordon hit a three, extending the Nuggets’ lead to 114-108.

A pair of urgent buckets from Giddey and Dort cut the lead to four, but unfortunately, Jokic was able to earn a couple of trips to the free-throw line stretch to secure a Nuggets victory against Oklahoma City.

The Thunder will host their second game against Minnesota Timberwolves tomorrow night at 7 p.m. CT in what will be the team’s home opener.

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