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.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: A-plus
Without Williams, OKC needed Gilgeous-Alexander to take a larger load than he already does and he delivered.
In 36 minutes, Gilgeous-Alexander had 34 points on 10-of-22 shooting, seven rebounds and five assists. He frequently went to the charity stripe with a 12-of-13 night from the free-throw line.
Like he usually does, Gilgeous-Alexander had a monster first quarter of 10 points. OKC desperately needed each point as it totaled a lowly 19 points.
In the fourth quarter, Gilgeous-Alexander went off for 13 points on 2-of-3 shooting in six minutes. He went 8-of-9 from the free-throw line as Denver tried to extend the game.
He only went 2-of-3 from 3, but his second outside shot was massive as the stepback jumper gave OKC a double-digit lead with four minutes left.
It was a phenomenal performance by the All-Star starter as he entered the contest questionable with an illness. OKC needed the win to avoid its first three-game losing streak of the season and its franchise player stepped up.
“Dealing with a little bit of illness, but I feel good enough to play, obviously,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “… I had enough in me to go.”
Sneaky, 2️⃣ 🤫 pic.twitter.com/BlWAeGQCbV
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) February 1, 2024
Spinning to the bank 😵💫 pic.twitter.com/zT305hAuLq
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) February 1, 2024
Chet Holmgren: A
There was lots of talk entering this game about Holmgren’s motor. Over the last few games, it was evident the 21-year-old rookie’s meter was running low.
A brutal January schedule was a real culture shock for Holmgren, who missed all of last season and played in just one college season. Despite that, he looked energized against Denver.
“Tired,” Holmgren said on how he felt after a busy January. “But like you can’t sit here and just tell yourself, ‘I’m tired’… Nobody cares. Other teams don’t care — they’re tired, they still wanna win… It doesn’t matter, I gotta figure out how to continue to be better every single night. I didn’t come into this season thinking it was going to be easy for 82 games.”
In 32 minutes, Holmgren had 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting, 13 rebounds, five blocks and three assists. He shot 3-of-4 from 3 — including hitting the aforementioned dagger. He was a plus-13, the best mark among OKC’s starters.
“I was just open, so I was like, ‘We’re not gonna get a better shot than this,’” Holmgren said on his final 3-pointer.
Without Williams, Holmgren stepped up in his bench lineup to start the fourth quarter. He scored seven points as OKC grew its lead with Gilgeous-Alexander on the bench.
The shot-blocking was sharper this time with five blocks, which was something that was missing over these last couple of games as opposing bigs bullied their way through him for finishes at the paint.
“Just comes down to trusting each other knowing the next guy’s going to have your back,” Holmgren said on his interior defense. “A lot of that starts with me. Everybody out there has to trust I’m gonna be there at the rim all night long.”
Less than a minute in 🙅♂️ pic.twitter.com/mFspUi2YHe
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) February 1, 2024
Protect the paint ➡️ finish at the rack pic.twitter.com/4JNxpWGi1l
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) February 1, 2024
Anotha one 😎
– Chet Holmgren #ThunderUp | @okcthunder | @BallySports 📺 pic.twitter.com/Zdd9O0WHNE— Bally Sports Oklahoma (@BallySportsOK) February 1, 2024
6️⃣ ➡️ 7️⃣ 🍽️ pic.twitter.com/5PYuf6g121
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) February 1, 2024
When will they learn Chet, when will they learn 🤔#ThunderUp | @okcthunder | @BallySports 📺 pic.twitter.com/zKjM0E6y2S
— Bally Sports Oklahoma (@BallySportsOK) February 1, 2024
Battlin’ in the paint 💪 pic.twitter.com/Z0GUvS5NUi
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) February 1, 2024
Connection on the kick out 🎯 pic.twitter.com/6EDoVrUxNd
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) February 1, 2024
.@PaycomCenter was pumped on the clean up 🔨 pic.twitter.com/lLyOYKBC06
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) February 1, 2024
CLUTCH HOLMGREN FOR 3 🗡️#ThunderUp | @okcthunder | @BallySports 📺 pic.twitter.com/NCIHk0juJ4
— Bally Sports Oklahoma (@BallySportsOK) February 1, 2024
Vasilije Micic: A-minus
Needing production from their non-starters, Micic had arguably his best game of the season.
In 17 minutes off the bench, Micic had 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting, five assists and two rebounds. He went 3-of-5 from the free-throw line and was a game-high plus-14.
Micic did an excellent job at holding down the second unit without Williams. He was part of the lineup to start the fourth quarter that held their own without Gilgeous-Alexander.
The 30-year-old has found a flow with OKC after initially struggling to adjust to the NBA. Daigneault notes his involvement in his rotation over the last six weeks due to this.
“Great confidence, he played in a great rhythm all night,” Daigneault said about Micic. “… That was as comfortable as he looked.”
Daigneault continued: “He’s so wise as a person. He’s got amazing experiences both personally and as a basketball player. He’s had that walking in the door… To his credit, really been trying to fit into this team… He’s had an impact for us really (since Christmas).”
Aaron Wiggins: B-plus
Wiggins continues to be a consistent positive for the Thunder and his playing time reflected that tonight. He led the reserves in minutes played in a crucial game OKC needed.
In 25 minutes off the bench, Wiggins had 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting, four rebounds and two assists. He shot 2-of-3 from 3.
All five of his baskets resulted in assists as the third-year wing continues to create quality shots with his off-ball movement.
The trust in Wiggins grows for Daigneault as he played nearly the final seven minutes of the contest as the Thunder and Nuggets entered crunch time.
“I think we have a lot of talented players besides the main guys,” Micic said on Wiggins and the bench. “We can get those energy from those guys… No matter how young we are, that winning mentality is present.”
Micić before the buzzer 👌 pic.twitter.com/Nps3nXkbWM
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) February 1, 2024
The feed and finish >>> pic.twitter.com/Ys4PGFyWse
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) February 1, 2024
Distribution on 💯 pic.twitter.com/60WDfq9RQP
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) February 1, 2024
