Denver Nuggets @ Oklahoma City Thunder
Friday, February 27, 2026 at 9:30 PM ET
Paycom Center, Oklahoma City, OK | Game ID: 22500862
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 OT1 Final
OKC 19 31 27 30 20 127DEN 33 26 24 24 14 121
ESPN UpdateESPN Update
Gilgeous-Alexander scores 36 in return, tempers flare as Thunder top Nuggets 127-121 in OT
OKLAHOMA CITY -- — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 36 points in his return after missing nine games with an abdominal strain and the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Denver Nuggets 127-121 in overtime Friday night in a testy matchup that featured multiple technical fouls and an ejection.
Gilgeous-Alexander, the reigning MVP, didn't play in overtime, but the Thunder still pulled through in the extra period.
Denver's Nikola Jokic , who got into an altercation with Oklahoma City's Lu Dort in the fourth quarter, had 23 points, 17 rebounds and 14 assists. Dort was ejected for a Flagrant 2 foul.
Nuggets guard Jamal Murray , listed as questionable with an illness before the game, led the Nuggets with 39 points.
Gilgeous-Alexander started and drew loud applause when his name was announced in pregame introductions. His first basket came on a driving layup two minutes into the game.
The teams are very familiar with each other — the Thunder defeated the Nuggets 4-3 in the Western Conference semifinals last year. The Thunder won the first two meetings this season and they play twice more.
This matchup was physical from the start. Gilgeous-Alexander was called for an early technical because he threw the ball at Jokic, who made contact with him after play stopped. Denver's bench was called for a technical in the third quarter. There was plenty of talking and shoving throughout.
Gilgeous-Alexander scored 18 points in the first half, but Denver led 59-50 after making 11 of 20 3-pointers before the break.
Gilgeous-Alexander scored 14 points in the third quarter to help the Thunder chip away, but the Nuggets took an 83-77 lead into the fourth.
The Thunder started off hot in the fourth quarter, and Dort's 3-pointer finally put Oklahoma City up 86-85.
A few minutes later, Dort was ejected for a hard foul against Jokic that led to a scrum near midcourt and offsetting technicals on Jokic and Oklahoma City's Jaylin Williams .
Fittingly, the tightly contested game went to overtime tied at 107.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
DENBB B. Brown
CB C. Braun
CJ C. Johnson
JM J. Murray
JS J. Strawther
JV J. Valančiūnas
JO Jokic
NJ N. Jokić
SJ S. Jones
TH T. Hardaway Jr.
OKCAC A. Caruso
AW A. Wiggins
CH C. Holmgren
CW C. Wallace
IH I. Hartenstein
IJ I. Joe
JM J. McCain
JW J. Williams
LD L. Dort
SG S. Gilgeous-Alexander
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
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