It was reported today that Denver picked up Nnaji’s fourth-year option and he certainly did not disappoint in his first action of the season. Aaron Wiggins had 15 points for the Thunder, while Jeremiah Robinson-Earl added 11 points. Nnaji shot 6-of-11 from the field and hauled in six rebounds as he looked like a player who could definitely be in Michael Malone’s rotation once the regular season begins. Tre Mann scored 17 points, Josh Giddey fell one assist short of a triple-double with 14 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists to lead Oklahoma City past Denver in the return of Nuggets guard Jamal Murray. Some players who shined on the second unit were Zeke Nnaji and Jeff Green, who both finished in double figures with 15 and 11 points respectively. One player who really struggled for the Nuggets tonight was Bones Hyland, who scored just six points on 2-of-7 shooting from the field in 14 minutes of action. Oklahoma City quickly regained the lead to start the third quarter as they ended up outscoring Denver 39-30 in the period to take an 8-point lead into the fourth. The Nuggets led 52-51 at the break as the starters handed the baton off to the bench for the final two quarters. It was awesome to see the Nuggets big three back on the floor together and after a sloppy first quarter Denver’s starting five really started to find a groove to end the first half. They were able to beat one of the best teams in the league, despite a poorish start in one of their few nationally televised games this season.Murray, Jokic, MPJ /IjqbJNpiAP- Rob Perez October 4, 2022 Overall, this was a great win for the Thunder. Schroder scored 11 points on 4-9 shooting. That has to be something the Thunder will have to monitor to see if Schroder will have to miss any time. Neither steal resulted in points but, as Burke pointed out on the broadcast, if you’re a two-way player who is trying to earn that elusive full time NBA contract, then watching how much Dort fights on each play is a great way to earn that contract.ĭennis Schroder rolled his ankle pretty nasty in the third quarter and subbed out but eventually finished the game. In the second quarter, there was a sequence where Dort stole the ball twice in a 10 second stretch. It’s about time Dort gets some national media love for how confident and competent he has looked on both sides on the ball, especially on defense with his big frame. I love how much Doris Burke couldn’t stop gushing over Luguentz Dort defensive pedigree all game long. The shot looked janky and had “miss” all over but of course Gallinari makes it on a night that saw him badly miss some fairly open looks. But the highlight of the night was arguably Gallinari’s and-one in the fourth quarter that pushed OKC’s lead to eight with 3:41 left. In a weird off night, Danilo Gallinari had some really bad misses going just 4-14 from the field with 15 points. Gilgeous-Alexander finished with a near triple double of 11 points on 4-14 shooting and nine rebounds and nine assists. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander struggled scoring the ball tonight, but was able to contribute in other ways. Jokic ended up with 32 points but he only scored four on just two shots in the fourth quarter. When you are a top 15 player in the league, like Jokic is, he’ll get his against anybody. Adams has gotten a lot of flack over the years for Jokic dominating their matchup, but I think that speaks more on how elite of a player Jokic is. This was one of Adams’ better games this season and what makes it even more impressive is he did it against the Nuggets bigs combo of Nikola Jokic and Mason Plumlee. Adams also had two assists, four steals and two blocks. Adams finished with 19 points (10 of those on a perfect 4-4 in the fourth) and 17 rebounds with seven of those on the offensive side. Paul is averaging a career low 2.1 TOPG this season.Īfter having a week off, Steven Adams looked great and refreshed tonight, especially in the 2nd half. Paul did finish with seven TOs though, which is a season high. Paul helped close things out in the fourth quarter by scoring nine points in the final 5:14 to give the Thunder a comfortable lead late that sealed the deal. Paul was able to get hot from deep, going 4-6 from three. But both teams knocked off any rust they had in a very entertaining and close second half that saw OKC pull away behind their usual guys.Ĭhris Paul lead the way with 29 points in just three quarters (zero points in the first quarter) on a clean 11-17 shooting, that saw only one made field goal around the rim. ![]() The first half was played between two teams that looked like they had a week off - just a bunch of ugly and sloppy basketball. ![]() This team was able to do something that previous Thunder teams have struggled to do - beat the Nuggets. In one of the more impressive wins this season, the Thunder manage to take down the 2nd seed Nuggets in a typical close game for OKC. OKC remains undefeated in their icon jersey.
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