A hotly contested primetime game between the Denver Nuggets and Oklahoma City Thunder almost came to blows multiple times before the Thunder held off the Nuggets 127-121 in overtime on Friday night. The reigning NBA MVP Shai Gilegous-Alexander looked like he hadn’t missed any time from an abdominal strain (9 games) as he led the Thunder and game in scoring with 36 points off 12-for-29 shooting in only 34 minutes. Even with SGA on a minutes restriction he managed the game as he has all season, efficiently, even after receiving a technical foul in the first quarter for throwing the ball at Nikola Jokic. Jokic had 23 points on 9-for-25 shooting, which was his worst shooting performance of the season, but still managed to record a triple-double while going 2-for-10 from three.
Jokic’s frustration boiled over in the fourth quarter after Thunder guard Lou Dort cheap shotted the three-time MVP, leading to a flagrant two foul and Dort’s ejection. Jokic and Jaylin Williams both received technical fouls that offset immediately following Dort's cheap shot, but the glaring recurrence that is that Lou Dort is a dirty player is starting to become more prominent throughout this NBA season. The Thunder continued to aggravate the Nuggets last night by bullying Jokic but also point guard Jamal Murray who was smacked in the face by center Isaiah Hartenstein just two minutes after Dort’s ejection. Murray led the Nuggets in scoring with 39 points on 12-for-26 shooting, knocking down seven threes in a game where the rest of the Nuggets squad did not do enough offensively to outlast the Thunder once the game went to overtime.
Jokic was forcing threes, Bruce Brown and other bench players were missing easy floaters and the Thunder’s depth reared its head early and often, especially once SGA went to the bench. Alex Caruso and Isaiah Joe both hit multiple clutch threes down the stretch and into overtime that ultimately swung the momentum into OKC’s favor to help the Thunder remain 8.5 games ahead of Denver and two games ahead of the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference. OKC's efforts in overtime are magnified as well given SGA did not play a single minute in OT due to his minutes restriction. The Thunder showed that they do not have to rely on SGA to win games down the stretch, especially against a quality contender like the Denver Nuggets, but once SGA is off his minutes restriction and back to his normal role in the rotation, the Thunder seem poised to make their way back to the Western Conference Finals and most likely the NBA Finals as well.
