The Oklahoma City Thunder’s comeback attempt fell short against the Denver Nuggets in a 122-110 win. After taking a one-point lead with a little over 10 minutes left in the game, the Nuggets were able to turn it up a notch and swiftly defeat the Thunder.
With the loss, the Thunder’s four-game winning streak comes to an end.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander once again continues to lead the way with a 37-point performance. Gilgeous-Alexander shot 13-of-17 from the field.
Two-time and reigning MVP Nikola Jokic finished with 15 points, 14 assists and 13 rebounds and collected a triple-double. Jokic also made history by surpassing Wilt Chamberlain for most career triple-doubles by a center at 79.
The difference in the game was from outside. The Nuggets shot 18-of-31 (58.1 percent) from three and the Thunder shot 6-of-29 (20.7 percent) from three. With such a huge difference, it would’ve taken a lot to overcome it.
The Thunder put in great effort to make this game interesting after trailing by as many as 19 points. After starting off the game with a quick 13-0 deficit in the opening three minutes, it felt like one of those nights where the Nuggets would make easy work of the Thunder early on.
Instead, the Thunder fought back and made the game interesting for most of its four quarters.
Let’s take a look at three Thunder player grades from this loss.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: A-plus
It’s becoming a bit mundane to consistently hand out A-plus grades to Gilgeous-Alexander but it’s hard not to with efficient-scoring 30-plus point games.
In this game’s case, Gilgeous-Alexander scored 37 points on 13-of-17 shooting. What makes this feat even more impressive is that he did it despite not taking a single three-point attempt.
“I didn’t even realize that,” said Gilgeous-Alexander after the game.
All of Gilgeous-Alexanders points came from within the paint, in the midrange or from the free-throw line as he went a perfect 11-of-11 from the charity stripe.
After this game, Gilgeous-Alexander is now ranked fourth among the top scorers in the league at 32.3 points — the only three he trails are Luka Doncic, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kevin Durant.
“He’s been on a tear and he’s playing elite basketball,” said his backcourt partner Josh Giddey.
Shai with the swipe and score 👏 pic.twitter.com/0h9xAG9gfx
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) November 4, 2022
Rise up SGA 🔨 pic.twitter.com/uLLdjr0Jk9
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) November 4, 2022
Slicing and dicing all night@OGandE Power Play of the Game pic.twitter.com/siD7aMqe3w
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) November 4, 2022
Josh Giddey: B-minus
In his second game back, Giddey played a lot of his minutes with Gilgeous-Alexander after they were staggered from him last game.
It resulted in 16 points on 7-of-14 shooting, five assists and four turnovers.
Giddey continues to try to build chemistry with Gilgeous-Alexander as he continues to gain rhythm from his missed time due to an ankle sprain.
It’s important to note that the handling of Giddey’s minutes this game were a stark contrast from last game. Against the Orlando Magic, Gilgeous-Alexander and Giddey rarely saw the court together and were more deliberately staggered — to the point that the latter didn’t even start the second half of that game.
A game later and it’s the complete opposite. Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault continues to experiment with lineups this season.
“Josh is a really good player. No matter who you are, it’s easy to play with him,” said Gilgeous-Alexander. “It’s always fun having him out there.”
Pretty Giddey 😌
A lay in for @joshgiddey notches the Thunder at 58 points in the paint. pic.twitter.com/j6Q0cVXFPX
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) November 4, 2022
Lu Dort: B-plus
Lu Dort worked a lot with the second unit this game as he finished with 19 points on 8-of-15 shooting.
Daigneault mentioned after the game that it was a priority to give Dort more work with the second unit and it sounded like Dort was open to it as he said after the game the team continues to experiment and try out new stuff.
The result? The Thunder were able to hold the fort against the Nuggets in the opening four minutes of a close fourth quarter with Gilgeous-Alexander and Giddey on the bench. Dort and the second unit held their own during those crucial minutes.
A strong finish for a three point play, brings the Thunder within four 💪 pic.twitter.com/ZFfKDqqsJX
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) November 4, 2022
