Thunder 127, Nuggets 121: The Day After Report

Box Score | Play-by-Play

Oklahoma City beat Denver 127-121 in overtime at Paycom Center in a wild and chippy game. The Thunder trailed by 16 at one point, shot 12.5% from three in the first quarter, 0% from three in the third quarter, lost Lu Dort to a Flagrant 2 in the fourth quarter, watched Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Isaiah Hartenstein sit the entire OT, and won against its Northwest Division rivals.

Whew.

Nuggets & Notes

• The first quarter was as ugly as it felt in real time. I think there was an actual lid on the basket, as OKC was 1-of-8 from three and just 32% from two in the opening period. The Thunder trailed 33-19 after one while Denver seemingly hit shots from everywhere.
• This one was chippy from the start. It would be an understatement to say that the Thunder and Jokic don't get along. It started with 9:09 left in the first when Shai picked up a technical for throwing the basketball at Nikola Jokic. Jokic plays this little game with subtle shoves and let me tell you, the Thunder players were not going to have it tonight.
• Speaking of Jokic, while his circus shots while trying to draw fouls went in, not a lot of other shots were falling for the MVP-challenger. The Joker was just 9-of-25 shooting and an abysmal 2-of-10 from beyond the arc. He did finish with a triple double, but this was not a shining moment for him.
• In the first half in particular, Denver's active hands were leading to steals. Denver took advantage of OKC's lazy and wild passes to record 10 steals. The Thunder cleaned that up as the game wore on, but turnovers helped spur Denver's quick start.
• In SGA's first game back after nearly a month-long absence, Denver mostly held the Thunder at bay. Denver had a lead as large as 16 and held the lead from mid-first quarter all the way until early in the fourth.
• There were various points when it looked like things could get away from the home team. But let me tell you, having the reigning MVP on your roster is an absolute game changer. SGA quickly reminded everyone why he is the leading MVP candidate.
• By the end of the third quarter, SGA already had 32 points. Offensively, he almost single-handedly kept OKC in the game. Shai finished 36 points on 12-of-29 shooting and 12-of-13 from the line, plus 9 assists to just 1 turnover.
• What a game for Chet Holmgren. Chet did his thing with 3 blocks, but he also recorded a career high 21 rebounds. Let's just give him DPOY now, okay?
• I was so excited to watch the three-man of SGA, Jared McCain, and Isaiah Joe, and I don't think it disappointed. The three-man lineup played just 6 minutes against the Nuggets but piled up 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting and 3-of-5 from three.
• While I know this is completely meaningless because of sample size and such, but I'm still going to let everyone know that those SGA-McCain-Joe minutes had an offensive rating of 158.3, a defensive rating of 63.6, and a net rating of +94.7.
• Those minutes are also key because it was evident that Denver was trying to scheme against Isaiah Joe when they had the ball. It limited Joe's minutes, but the counterpunch to that was the offensive firepower the Thunder create when you have elite spacers like Joe and McCain to pair alongside an elite playmaker like SGA.
• Shouts to McCain who has been nails since joining the Thunder. In a playoff, intense atmosphere, the second-year pro delivered: 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting (2-of-3 from three). The free-throw line jumper? Automatic.
• Sources: every fanbase outside of OKC (including Philadelphia) is pissed Daryl Morey gifted the Thunder McCain.
• Back to the chippiness (is that a word? my spell check doesn't like it): in the heart of the fourth quarter, Lu Dort made sure he checked Jokic as SGA was taking the ball up the court. Jokic flopped like he just got bit by a snake, and in the resulting scrum, Jaylin Williams was having none of Jokic giving lip to Lu Dort.

• Dort was subsequently ejected for a flagrant 2 (for allegedly attempting to trip Jokic), and JWill and Jokic were handed technicals.
• Mark Daigneault also threw down a redline for future "tripping" flagrant 2 calls:

• Props to my boy JWill, maybe my favorite player. He's all smiles until you mess with one of his boys. And I would highly recommend you not mess with one of his boys.
• In the fourth quarter, Denver was aggressively blitzing Shai to force the ball out of his hands. It really did stall the OKC offense, but the Thunder did just enough to force the game to OT. In large part, OKC survived thanks to an off night by Cam Johnson who missed a wide-open three from the corner in the waning seconds of regulation.
• So, when OT tipped off, SGA started on the bench and stayed parked there for the entirety of the extra frame. The Thunder is well known to not impose stated "minutes restrictions" on players, and well, despite that, the SGA was on a minutes restriction.
• Postgame, Daigneault explained that they actually discussed the possibility of sitting SGA in an OT game:

• While it's safe to say OKC does not stay in this game without SGA, it's just as safe to say that OKC does not win this game without Alex Caruso. He finished with 12 points, 2 steals, but 8 of those points game in the fourth quarter and OT. Caruso was quite literally, everywhere to close this one out.

• Honestly, this was a great win. Both teams a little shorthanded–Denver was without Aaron Gordon and Peyton Watson, while OKC was without Jalen Williams and Ajay Michell–but the Thunder survived a rough shooting night, an ejection, and SGA resting comfortably during OT to pull out a win over arguably the second-best team in the West.

One Key Takeaway

That game kept me up pretty late, so I am admittedly running out of steam, but the key takeaway from last night is pretty easy:

SGA is the MVP.

Yes, Oklahoma City is deep and talented (and even deeper and more talented with McCain on the roster). Yes, Oklahoma City managed to go 5-4 without SGA. But the Thunder is a different team with SGA on the court.

It's not just his scoring. Shai has become a truly complete player. He had 9 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks last night. He's an asset on both ends of the court.

So yeah, I was surprised we didn't see a single second of SGA on the court for OT, but protecting his health is the absolute priority. If the Thunder is going to repeat as champs, it absolutely needs a fully healthy Gilgeous-Alexander.

And with a healthy SGA? Don't bet against this team.