Game ID: 22300095
Denver Nuggets @ Oklahoma City Thunder
Sunday, October 29, 2023 at 3:30 PM ET
Paycom Center, Oklahoma City, OK
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
OKC 23 28 24 20 95DEN 34 35 28 31 128
DEN @ OKC ScoutingDEN @ OKC Scouting
Welcome to the scouting desk. The coffee is cold, the film is play-by-play, and somebody has to explain what happened.
Every game has a hinge — a stretch where it was decided, usually while everyone was watching something else. Start where the evidence lives: the Lineups' face-offs say which five actually won their minutes; the Possessions ledger says who ran ahead of the night's own pace; the Shot Chart says where the points really came from, which is rarely where the highlights were. When all three agree, that is the story. When they don't — that is why this desk has a chair.
OKC availability going into 10/25 · season opener
full strength
OKC availability going into 10/27 · 1 day's rest
full strength
OKC availability going into 10/29 · 1 day's rest
full strength
OKC availability going into 10/30 · back-to-back
full strength
OKC availability going into 11/01 · 1 day's restNEW Dieng 10 to 16 min over the last 4
OKC availability going into 11/03 · 1 day's restOUT Micić missed 2 since 10/30, returns tonight: 12 min (101% of 12)
OKC availability going into 11/06 · 2 days' restBACK Micić back 11/03 after 2, 12 min since (101% of 12)
DEN availability going into 10/24 · season opener
full strength
DEN availability going into 10/27 · 2 days' rest
full strength
DEN availability going into 10/29 · 1 day's restOUT Holiday missed 2 since 10/24, returns tonight: 3 min (22% of 15)
OUT Jordan missed 2 since 10/24, out tonight
DEN availability going into 10/30 · back-to-backOUT Jordan missed 3 since 10/24, out tonight
BACK Holiday back 10/29 after 2, 3 min since (22% of 15)
DEN availability going into 11/01 · 1 day's restOUT Jordan missed 4 since 10/24, out tonight
BACK Holiday back 10/29 after 2, 3 min since (22% of 15)
DEN availability going into 11/03 · 1 day's restOUT Jordan missed 5 since 10/24, out tonight
BACK Holiday back 10/29 after 2, 4 min since (31% of 15)
DEN availability going into 11/04 · back-to-backOUT Jordan missed 6 since 10/24, returns tonight: 12 min (113% of 11)
BACK Holiday back 10/29 after 2, 4 min since (31% of 15)
10/25 @ CHI 124-104 — OKC notes
OKC won 124-104. OKC shot 55% (45 of 82) to CHI's 41%, 19 of 39 from three. Gilgeous-Alexander led with 31 (12 of 18, 2 of 5 from three); Williams added 16, Giddey 16. The hinge was Q4, 33-22: a lead of 9 became 20. Gilgeous-Alexander was the night's best plus/minus at +19.
10/27 @ CLE 108-105 — OKC notes
OKC won 108-105. OKC shot 46% (40 of 87) to CLE's 41%, 13 of 26 from three. OKC turned it over 18 times to CLE's 13, and CLE turned those into 10 steals. Gilgeous-Alexander led with 34 (15 of 26); Dort added 25, Holmgren 16. The hinge was Q1, 31-26: from level to 5 ahead, and the lead reached 15. Joe was the night's best plus/minus at +12.
10/29 vs DEN 95-128 — OKC notes
OKC lost 95-128. OKC shot 41% (37 of 90) to DEN's 60%, 6 of 32 from three. The glass went 29-48 against them. Holmgren led with 19 (7 of 12, 1 of 4 from three); Williams added 13, Mann 12. Q3 was theirs, 24-28, but the other 3 periods went 100-71 against them. Holmgren's -23 in 26 minutes was the worst on the floor.
11/03 vs GSW — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
OKC comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 111 a night and allowing 112, shooting 47 percent and 36 from three, 22 free throws a game; Gilgeous-Alexander at 25 and Jal. Williams at 16 a game. It has lost the glass by 5 a night. One day's rest. Golden State comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 113 a night and allowing 104, shooting 47 percent and 35 from three, 20 free throws a game; Curry at 31 and Thompson at 16 a game. That is 4 straight wins. One day's rest.
So: Golden State wins, on the road, and the game turns on the glass, where Golden State has been plus-1 a night and OKC minus-5 and the defense, Golden State allowing 104 a night to OKC's 112. Call it Golden State 111, OKC 109, OKC keeping it close.
11/06 vs ATL — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
OKC comes in 2-3 over its last five, scoring 114 a night and allowing 119, shooting 48 percent and 36 from three, 24 free throws a game; Gilgeous-Alexander at 23 and Holmgren at 18 a game. It has lost the glass by 6 a night. 2 days' rest. Atlanta comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 125 a night and allowing 115, shooting 51 percent and 37 from three, 25 free throws a game; Murray at 24 and Young at 21 a game. That is 4 straight wins. It has won the glass by 9 a night. Without Fernando (2 straight). One day's rest.
So: Atlanta wins, on the road, and the game turns on the glass, where Atlanta has been plus-9 a night and OKC minus-6. Call it Atlanta 120, OKC 116, OKC keeping it close.
10/24 vs LAL 119-107 — DEN notes
DEN won 119-107. DEN shot 53% (48 of 91) to LAL's 46%, 14 of 34 from three, and got to the line 12 times to LAL's 20. Jokić led with 29 (12 of 22, 3 of 5 from three); Murray added 21, Caldwell-Pope 20. The hinge was Q1, 34-20: from level to 14 ahead, and the lead reached 18. Jokić was the night's best plus/minus at +15.
10/27 @ MEM 108-104 — DEN notes
DEN won 108-104. DEN shot 47% (41 of 88) to MEM's 44%, 14 of 37 from three, and got to the line 18 times to MEM's 24. Jokić led with 22 (8 of 14, 1 of 4 from three, 5 of 6 at the line); Murray added 22, Jackson 16. The hinge was Q1, 25-18: from level to 7 ahead. Murray was the night's best plus/minus at +8.
10/29 @ OKC 128-95 — DEN notes
DEN won 128-95. DEN shot 60% (53 of 88) to OKC's 41%, 11 of 27 from three. The glass went 48-29 for them. Jokić led with 28 (12 of 16); Porter Jr. added 20, Murray 19. The hinge was Q1, 34-23: from level to 11 ahead, and the lead reached 35. Braun was the night's best plus/minus at +25.
11/04 vs CHI — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Denver comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 112 a night and allowing 105, shooting 51 percent and 34 from three, 15 free throws a game; Jokić at 27 and Murray at 18 a game. Second night of a back-to-back. Chicago comes in 2-3 over its last five, scoring 106 a night and allowing 110, shooting 44 percent and 32 from three, 20 free throws a game; LaVine at 26 and DeRozan at 23 a game. It has lost the glass by 5 a night. Second night of a back-to-back.
So: Denver wins, and the game turns on the glass, where Denver has been plus-3 a night and Chicago minus-5. Call it Denver 113, Chicago 104.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
DENAG A. Gordon
BK B. Key
CB C. Braun
CG C. Gillespie
HT H. Tyson
JM J. Murray
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
OKCAP A. Pokusevski
AW A. Wiggins
CH C. Holmgren
CW C. Wallace
IJ I. Joe
JG J. Giddey
JW J. Williams
KJ K. Johnson
LD L. Dort
MI Micic
OD O. Dieng
SG S. Gilgeous-Alexander
TM T. Mann
VM V. Micić
DEN/OKC 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
END the clock ran out, ball in hand
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
Jokic's 28 points lead Nuggets past Thunder 128-95 in Holmgren's 1st regular-season home game
OKLAHOMA CITY -- — The Oklahoma City Thunder are a young, talented team on the rise. The defending NBA champion Denver Nuggets showed them just how much work they have ahead to reach that elite level.
Nikola Jokic had 28 points and 14 rebounds to help the Nuggets roll past the Thunder 128-95 on Sunday for their third straight win to open the season.
“They’re defending champs, and they’re not that by fluke,” Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said. “They play the right way on both ends of the floor and they are a really good basketball team. They came to play tonight. We weren’t good enough to compete against them.”
Michael Porter Jr . had 20 points and nine rebounds and Jamal Murray added 19 points and eight assists for the Nuggets, who shot 60.2% from the field.
Denver coach Michael Malone liked the energy the Nuggets brought.
“Winning a championship, the one thing you worry about is thinking we can just show up this year and we’re going to win,” he said. “And that’s not the case. This is a brand new season. What we did last year, although magical in nature, has nothing to do with this season. And I think our players, the way they’re playing — it’s very early — but after three games, our guys are playing with the requisite mindset that you need to if you’re going to be a team that can try to win another championship.”
Oklahoma City’s Chet Holmgren was the No. 2 pick in the 2022 draft, but he missed last season with a foot injury. He got a loud cheer when he was introduced with the starters in his first regular-season home game and delivered a team-leading 19 points.
Gilgeous-Alexander, a first-team All-NBA selection last season, scored just seven points on 2-for-16 shooting. Denver's Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was assigned to guard him.
“You’ve got to credit guys like Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who I think is an all-NBA defender," Malone said. "You know, we asked him to guard the best players 82 regular season games and 20 playoff games last year and he’s totally committed to that. He understands that that’s his greatest gift to this basketball team.”
The Nuggets held the Thunder to 41.1% shooting overall.
“We know that we have to be a team that can travel, beat the best teams in the NBA on the road,” Malone said. “And to do that, you have to bring the defense. And I felt our defense tonight was outstanding across the board.”
Oklahoma City opened the season with road wins over Chicago and Cleveland and could have made an early statement with a win over Denver.
Jokic made sure that didn't happen. The two-time MVP and 2023 Finals MVP dominated the first half. He had 22 points, including a layup at the buzzer, to give Denver a 69-51 edge at the break.
Holmgren scored 17 points in the first half. Gilgeous-Alexander went 0 for 9 from the field and had three points before the break.