Oklahoma City Thunder @ Denver Nuggets
Friday, December 29, 2023 at 9:00 PM ET
Ball Arena, Denver, CO | Game ID: 22300435
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
DEN 27 21 20 25 93OKC 33 21 34 31 119
DENVER -- — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 40 points, 17 in the decisive third quarter, and the Oklahoma City Thunder overcame another efficient shooting game from Nikola Jokic to beat the Denver Nuggets 119-93 on Friday night.
Gilgeous-Alexander had 40 points or more for the fifth time this season and was four shy of his career best set last season. He was 14 of 20 from the field and made all 10 of his free-throw attempts.
“He was just cruising. He let the game come to him,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “It never seemed like he was forcing. Played the right way throughout, made the right passes, kept them honest. It’s kind of routine at this point but he played a great game.”
Oklahoma City has won three straight and eight of its last 10 to surge past Denver in the Northwest Division. The Nuggets, who had their six-game winning streak snapped, have lost just three home games this season and the last two have come against the Thunder.
Those are Denver’s only losses in the last 11 games.
“It’s not a fluke they won the championship,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “They’re a really good team and we know that every night we play them. You get out of bed to play against teams like that knowing they’re at the level that you want to get to.”
Chet Holmgren scored the Thunder’s first 10 points of the game and finished with 24, was 4 of 4 from 3-point range, and had two blocks. He had eight blocked shots against the Nuggets on Dec. 16.
“He’s a threat on the court in so many ways and him drawing that attention only makes it easier for the guys around him, including myself,” Gilgeous-Alexander said.
Jokic, who finished with 19 points, made 9 of 10 shots and over the last two games he is 20 of 21 from the field. He made his first four shots Friday night until missing a short jumper with 1:57 left in the first quarter. He had made 16 straight field goals going back to Monday’s game against Golden State.
Jokic had 10 rebounds but committed seven turnovers, two shy of his career high.
“You’ve got to be clean with the ball, you can’t play in a crowd,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said of the turnovers. “It’s something they do to most teams, but you’re not going to give yourself a chance to win when you allow them to play to their strength.”
The Thunder led by six at halftime and used a 19-4 run to go ahead 75-58 midway through the third quarter. Gilgeous-Alexander scored 11 points late in the period to put Oklahoma City ahead 88-68 heading into the fourth.
The Nuggets got within 93-78 on Reggie Jackson’s 3-pointer but Jalen Williams hit two from deep and Kenrich Williams another from behind the line to give the Thunder a 102-80 lead.
Denver made one last push but Holmgren’s fourth 3-pointer of the night made it 107-87 with 4:14 left.
UP NEXT
Thunder: Host the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday night.
Nuggets: Host the Charlotte Hornets on Monday night.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
OKCAW A. Wiggins
CH C. Holmgren
CW C. Wallace
IJ I. Joe
JG J. Giddey
JW J. Williams
JW Jal. Williams
JW Jay. Williams
KW K. Williams
LD L. Dort
LW L. Waters III
MI Micic
OS O. Sarr
SG S. Gilgeous-Alexander
VM V. Micić
DENBK B. Key
CB C. Braun
DJ D. Jordan
JH J. Holiday
JM J. Murray
JP J. Pickett
JS J. Strawther
JO Jokic
KC K. Caldwell-Pope
MP M. Porter Jr.
NJ N. Jokić
PW P. Watson
RJ R. Jackson
ZN Z. Nnaji
OKC/DEN the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur