OKC Thunder Offensive Efficiency, Depth Continue to be Influential Facets of its Game

The Oklahoma City Thunder got a massive win over the second-seeded team in the Western Conference late Sunday night, the Denver Nuggets.

With the return of the Nuggets' Nikola Jokic along with Jamal Murray, this proved to be a heavy-hitting matchup on NBC's Sunday Night Basketball. Oklahoma City ended up getting the best of its opponent in Denver, with a lot of thanks to the efficiency on the offensive side of the ball.

Something that's been an issue to this point since the turn of the New Year, the Thunder was able to call on a few bench players, as well as a spot starter in Cason Wallace to help get the job done inside Ball Arena.

Cason Wallace react — Feb 1, 2026; Denver, Colorado, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Cason Wallace (22) reacts after a play in the third quarter against the Denver Nuggets at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images | Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

Of course, reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander got his own, as he has done night in and night out this season and beyond. Dropping 34 points while shooting 11-for-16 from the field only aided the Thunder in its eventual 47% shooting night.

But the main highlight comes in Wallace, Aaron Wiggins and Isaiah Joe making a great impact on the offensive end—the Thunder needs its role players to band together and put together nights like these in order to win while the team is still banged up.

No Alex Caruso, no Isaiah Hartenstein, Wallace's 27 points on 7-of-11 from the three-point line could not be understated. A night like this proved to be necessary to defeat the Nuggets, a team who previously took the Thunder to seven games in the second round of the playoffs a year ago.

Wiggins, who put up 14 of his own, was efficient in his own right. Shooting over 50% from the field and shooting right at 50% from three on six tries, Wiggins' performance was also necessary to help take down Jokic and Denver.

And Joe, though only shooting 33% from the field with all three-point tries, still sank three trey balls to mount a game of 19 threes made for the Thunder, an area which the team has struggled in this season.

This type of scoring depth has been a bit absent in this team's losses as of late, and the Thunder will continue to need more of it as it looks to dig itself out of this rut amid a tough stretch at this point in the season.