OKLAHOMA CITY — Grabbing his miss, Josh Giddey quickly recalibrated amid chaos and dished it out to Chet Holmgren for the left-wing 3-pointer. As the ball swished through the basket, the crowd celebrated the dagger with 22 seconds left.
The short-handed Oklahoma City Thunder clinched a critical season series with a 105-100 win over the Denver Nuggets — who were without their MVP candidate Nikola Jokic.
“That was a gutsy win,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said. “Really, really impressed. The end of the month, as we’ve talked about before, that month was a slog. This was our sixth game in nine days. When you really step back and think about that, that’s like a very difficult schedule.”
In the first quarter, OKC looked lethargic as it trailed 28-19 following the frame. The offense looked smoother in the second quarter with a 28-point frame.
By halftime, the Thunder had a 51-47 deficit. A 26-point third frame by OKC saw it enter the fourth quarter with a slight 73-72 lead. A massive 20-2 run by the Thunder helped create an 11-point advantage less than two minutes into the fourth quarter.
Trailing by 10 points with a little over three minutes left, Denver rattled off seven consecutive points to suddenly turn it into a three-point contest with two minutes left.
A pair of free throws by Jamal Murray made it a one-point lead for OKC with less than a minute left. On the next possession, the Thunder collected a pair of misses to wrap up three consecutive looks with the Holmgren 3-pointer.
A rare five-second violation on a failed inbound pass by the Nuggets in the ensuing possession guaranteed the crucial win for OKC. Playing the 17th game in 31 days, the depleted Thunder labored through the massive victory running on fumes.
Entering the contest, OKC was without Jalen Williams (ankle sprain) and Isaiah Joe (sternum contusion). Both are part of the Thunder’s best seven players.
Despite that, the Thunder shot 43% from the field and went 11-of-26 (42.3%) from 3. They tallied 24 assists on 37 baskets. OKC totaled four double-digit scorers.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the way with 34 points and had a busy night at the free-throw line. Holmgren contributed with 18 points and 13 rebounds.
Off the bench, Aaron Wiggins and Vasilije Micic stepped up in the absences of Williams and Joe. Both bench players scored 12 points apiece.
“We didn’t start the game the way we wanted to,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “I think we all could feel how slow we were on both ends of the floor. They shot it well to start the game as well. We dug deep, we got stops when we needed them and we came out with a (win) because of it.”
Meanwhile, the Nuggets shot 40% from the field and went 15-of-37 (40.5%) from 3. Denver relied on its hot outside shooting to compensate for Jokic’s absence. Six players scored double-digit points for the Nuggets.
Aaron Gordon totaled 16 points, 13 rebounds, seven assists and four blocks. Murray had 16 points and four assists. Michael Porter Jr. scored 15 points and went 3-of-9 from 3.
Off the bench, Reggie Jackson scored 16 points and Christian Braun scored 10 points.
With the low-scoring win, OKC ends its season series against Denver winning three of four matchups. This means the Thunder own a potential tiebreaker, which could prove vital considering how close they are in the standings.
Both teams entered the contest with notable absences, but the Thunder did just enough on both ends to come out victorious and snap a two-game losing skid.
“It was a great team win,” Daigneault said. “We got contributions from everybody in a game that was obviously a grind. I was really, really impressed with the energy we were able to tap into tonight.”
Let’s look at Thunder player grades.