Denver Nuggets @ Oklahoma City Thunder
Wednesday, January 31, 2024 at 8:00 PM ET
Paycom Center, Oklahoma City, OK | Game ID: 22300682
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
OKC 19 28 26 32 105DEN 28 23 21 28 100
OKLAHOMA CITY -- — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 34 points to help the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the short-handed Denver Nuggets 105-100 on Wednesday night in a matchup of teams near the top of the Western Conference standings.
Denver star Nikola Jokic sat out because of pain in his lower back. Oklahoma City took advantage of the two-time league MVP's absence by holding the defending champion Nuggets to 39.8% shooting.
Oklahoma City's MVP contender wasn't sure he'd play, either. Gilgeous-Alexander was questionable but ended up with his 14th game in January with at least 30 points.
“Dealing with a little bit of illness, but I (felt) good enough to play, obviously," he said. "I wasn’t sure when I got listed. I wasn’t sure whether I’d be able to go tonight before the game, before a couple naps, couple sleeps. I had enough in me to go.”
Chet Holmgren had 18 points, 13 rebounds and five blocks and reserves Aaron Wiggins and Vasilije Micic each added 12 points for the Thunder.
Oklahoma City guard Jalen Williams , the team’s No. 2 scorer this season, was out with a sprained right ankle and reserve guard Isaiah Joe sat out with a bruised sternum.
“I just thought the team, like, solved problems together," Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “It was a great team win. We got contributions from everybody. In a game that was obviously a grind, I was just really, really impressed with the energy that we were able to tap into tonight.”
The Thunder won the season series 3-1 and avoided their first three-game skid of the season. Oklahoma City outrebounded Denver 53-47 and outscored the Nuggets 20-11 at the free throw line.
Aaron Gordon had 16 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists for the Nuggets.
“I thought he was just phenomenal in terms of the effort and the aggression, the playmaking, the shot blocking, the defense," Denver coach Michael Malone said. "I mean, we asked a lot of him tonight. ... I thought Aaron was just, phenomenal across the board tonight. And, it’s unfortunate that we weren’t able to get the win.”
Michael Porter Jr . added 15 points and eight rebounds for the Nuggets.
Oklahoma City led 73-72 heading into the fourth and opened the period on a 10-0 run, highlighted by a 3-pointer from Lu Dort. Holmgren's one-handed putback of a missed 3-pointer by Cason Wallace put the Thunder ahead 87-74.
Denver cut its deficit to four before Gilgeous-Alexander scored on a 3-point play, then a 3-pointer, to put Oklahoma City up 10 with about four minutes remaining.
Denver stayed focused. Gordon's one-handed dunk in traffic cut Oklahoma City's lead to 98-95, and a pair of free throws by Jamal Murray made it a one-point game.
Holmgren's 3-pointer gave Oklahoma City a four-point lead with 22 seconds left. The Thunder then harassed Denver into a five-second call and hung on from there.
“We have guys on our team want to win, and will do whatever it takes," Gilgeous-Alexander said. "And no matter what’s going on, in the past and future, all you can do is control the present. And I think we did that tonight. We took it possession by possession. We gave it everything we had those possessions, and it was enough to win, and we were rewarded because of it.”
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
OKCAW A. Wiggins
CH C. Holmgren
CW C. Wallace
JG J. Giddey
JW J. Williams
KW K. Williams
LD L. Dort
LW L. Waters III
MI Micic
OD O. Dieng
SG S. Gilgeous-Alexander
VM V. Micić
DENAG A. Gordon
CB C. Braun
JH J. Holiday
JM J. Murray
KC K. Caldwell-Pope
MP M. Porter Jr.
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