Creating space off of a spin, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander knocked down the turnaround fadeaway jumper against Peyton Watson to hit the game-winner on the defending NBA champs.
The Oklahoma City Thunder escaped with a 118-117 win over the Denver Nuggets in a contest that saw OKC play from behind for most of the night.
“I think it’s good for our confidence,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said on the win. “I think it reinforces a lot of the things we’ve been working on.
“When you work at it and then those very things you’re working hard at are paying the dividends on the road venue like this against a team like Denver. I think it instills confidence in the things we’re doing.”
After an alley-oop dunk from Aaron Gordon gave the Nuggets an eight-point lead with 3:33 left, OKC went on a 9-2 run to turn it into a one-point deficit off its own alley-oop dunk from Chet Holmgren.
The final 90 seconds of the contest saw both teams exchange punches. Michael Porter Jr. hit on a jumper to give Denver a three-point lead. Gilgeous-Alexander knocked down a pair of free throws on the next possession to cut it back down to one point.
With under a minute left, Jamal Murray scored on a contested stepback midrange jumper on a second-chance opportunity to give Denver a three-point lead.
OKC immediately called a timeout and answered back with a tough Jalen Williams finish surrounded by traffic to make it a 117-116 game with 37 seconds left.
Two-time MVP Nikola Jokic missed a 3-pointer on the next possession and Gilgeous-Alexander was off to the races to hit his second game-winner at Denver this calendar year. A stunned Nuggets couldn’t generate a shot attempt with 1.1 seconds and OKC exorcised its Denver demons with the late win.
On offense, the Thunder were running a machine as they shot 51% from the field and overcame a 7-of-21 (33.3%) night from 3. A 25-of-30 night from the free-throw line also helped out in a big way for OKC.
“We did a good job (on offense) tonight,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “Just trusting each other. Down the stretch, we were able to play in space because of it.”
Meanwhile, the Nuggets shot 45% from the field and went 12-of-32 (37.5%) from 3. Denver shot 21-of-24 from the free-throw line. They were outscored by OKC inside of the paint, 64-52.
After initially struggling, Gilgeous-Alexander turned it up in the second half on his way to 25 points and the game-winner. The MVP candidate added juice to his case with his big-time shot.
“I play a lot of one-on-one and I played a lot of one-on-one growing up,” Gilgeous-Alexander said on his game-winner. “I think that’s kinda where that feel comes from. At this point, it’s just instinctual. I don’t really work on it, it just happens.”
Holmgren also turned in one of the best performances of his season as he collected a near triple-double of 17 points, 11 rebounds and nine blocks. Williams contributed with 24 points and helped set Gilgeous-Alexander up for the game-winner by making it a one-point game off a tricky layup.
The Nuggets were led by Jokic with 24 points, 12 assists and six rebounds. Porter Jr. scored 20 points, went 4-of-8 from 3 and grabbed 11 rebounds. Gordon had 16 points, nine rebounds and five assists.
This was a massive steal of a win for OKC. It felt like it got inside of a getaway car and escaped with a heist. For most of the night, the energy didn’t feel right for the Thunder as they didn’t bring their A-game.
As the Nuggets led for most of the night, it felt like a run was inevitable that would’ve put this game to bed. The Thunder looked lethargic all game long and couldn’t create any rhythm.
“We can compete with anybody,” Williams said on the win. “I think that kinda solidifies thoughts that we had. I don’t think we ever thought that way but it just gives us more and more confidence for the rest of the season.”
Instead, OKC kept it within striking distance all game — Denver’s largest lead was 11 points — and eventually closed it out in the final moments. The Thunder become just the second team to win at Denver this season.
With the win, the Thunder improved their record to 16-8 and retook possession of the second seed in the Western Conference standings.
“I thought we had great fortitude tonight,” Daigneault said. “We hung in there… I thought we made some massive wins tonight when the wind was in our face… It just shows mental toughness, competitiveness.”
Let’s look at Thunder player grades.