Game ID: 22400075
Oklahoma City Thunder @ Denver Nuggets
Thursday, October 24, 2024 at 10:00 PM ET
Ball Arena, Denver, CO
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
DEN 24 27 17 19 87OKC 31 27 27 17 102
DEN vs OKC ScoutingDEN vs 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.
DEN availability going into 10/24 · season opener
full strength
DEN availability going into 10/26 · 1 day's rest
full strength
DEN availability going into 10/28 · 1 day's restOUT Jordan missed 2 since 10/24, out tonight
DEN availability going into 10/29 · back-to-backOUT Pickett missed 2 since 10/26, out tonight
OUT Jordan missed 3 since 10/24, out tonight
OUT Nnaji missed 2 since 10/26, out tonight
NEW Gordon 30 to 37 min over the last 3
DEN availability going into 11/01 · 2 days' restOUT Pickett missed 3 since 10/26, out tonight
OUT Jordan missed 4 since 10/24, out tonight
OUT Nnaji missed 3 since 10/26, out tonight
NEW Gordon 30 to 36 min over the last 4
OKC availability going into 10/24 · season opener
full strength
OKC availability going into 10/26 · 1 day's rest
full strength
OKC availability going into 10/27 · back-to-back
full strength
OKC availability going into 10/30 · 2 days' rest
full strength
OKC availability going into 11/01 · 1 day's rest
full strength
10/24 vs OKC 87-102 — DEN notes
DEN lost 87-102. DEN shot 36% (35 of 98) to OKC's 43%, 7 of 38 from three. Jokić led with 16 (6 of 13, 1 of 3 from three); Braun added 16, Porter Jr. 15. Q4 was theirs, 19-17, the deficit cut from 17 to 15, but the other 3 periods went 85-68 against them. Westbrook's -24 in 21 minutes was the worst on the floor.
10/24 @ DEN 102-87 — OKC notes
OKC won 102-87. OKC shot 43% (43 of 101) to DEN's 36%, 8 of 36 from three. Gilgeous-Alexander led with 28 (11 of 24, 2 of 6 from three); Holmgren added 25, Wiggins 15. The hinge was Q3, 27-17: a lead of 7 became 17, and the lead reached 20. Caruso was the night's best plus/minus at +19.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
OKCAC A. Caruso
AM A. Mitchell
AW A. Wiggins
CH C. Holmgren
CW C. Wallace
DJ D. Jones
IJ I. Joe
JW J. Williams
LD L. Dort
OD O. Dieng
SG S. Gilgeous-Alexander
DENAG A. Gordon
CB C. Braun
DŠ D. Šarić
HT H. Tyson
JM J. Murray
JP J. Pickett
JS J. Strawther
MP M. Porter Jr.
NJ N. Jokić
PW P. Watson
RW R. Westbrook
TA T. Alexander
VČ V. Čančar
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
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
Gilgeous-Alexander, Holmgren lead Thunder to 102-87 win over Nuggets in season opener
DENVER -- — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 28 points, Chet Holmgren added 25 as part of a stellar all-around performance and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Denver Nuggets 102-87 on Thursday night in the season opener for both teams.
Holmgren proved to be a handful on both ends of the floor. He tied a career high with 14 rebounds, and had five assists and blocked four shots. Reserve Aaron Wiggins added 15 points.
It was an important divisional game right out of the gate. The Thunder and Nuggets both finished 57-25 last season, with the Thunder earning the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference by virtue of a tiebreaker.
Reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic had 16 points, 13 assists and 12 rebounds for Denver.
Jokic's point guard partner, Jamal Murray , had 12 points on 4-of-14 shooting. Christian Braun added 16 points. while Aaron Gordon , fresh off signing a new contract extension , added 12 points. Denver was 7 of 39 on 3-pointers.
Takeaways Thunder: Holmgren can run the floor with authority. In the third quarter, he blocked a shot by Jokic, ran the down the court, took a pass and and threw down a powerful dunk.
Nuggets: The Thunder's bench outscored the Nuggets' reserves 25-16. New addition Russell Westbrook had six points on 2-of-10 shooting.
Key moment Before the game, Denver players and coaches paid tribute to the late Dikembe Mutombo by wearing T-shirts emblazoned with an image of the big man’s iconic finger wag. In the first quarter, the team showed a video tribute celebrating Mutombo’s big accomplishments on and off the court. Then, fans stood and applauded for 55 seconds — his number. Mutombo died last month of brain cancer. He was 58.
Key stat At an average of 24 years, 148 days, the Thunder opened the regular season with the youngest roster in the league.
Up next The Thunder are at Chicago on Saturday night, while the Nuggets host the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday night.