NBA

Oklahoma City Thunder at Denver Nuggets

· National Basketball Association
Final
122 - 124

5-3, 3-2 Home

Watson seals 124-122 win for Nuggets with blocked shot in final second, handing Thunder 1st loss

Peyton Watson with the massive swat at the rim

Nikola Jokic finished with 23 points, 20 rebounds and 16 assists as the Nuggets rebounded from a 16-point deficit in the third quarter. Christian Braun added 24.

Michael Porter Jr. came up big after a slow start, scoring 21 of his 24 points in the second half. The short-handed Nuggets were without power forward Aaron Gordon (strained calf) and point guard Jamal Murray (concussion protocol).

Watson had a chance to seal the game at the line with 16 seconds left but missed both free throws. He made up for it by swatting the shot of a driving Shai Gilgeous-Alexander just before the buzzer sounded.

Jalen Williams led the Thunder with 29 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists while Gilgeous-Alexander had 28 points.

Takeaways Thunder: So defensively sound, the Thunder allowed 69 points in the second half. They entered the contest giving up a league-low 95.9 points a game.

Nuggets: At times, Denver struggled to keep its cool. In addition to coach Michael Malone, Westbrook was given a technical. They kept their cool down the stretch.

Key moment Down 108-106, the Nuggets went on a 17-7 run to take control of the game. The youngsters, Julian Strawther and Watson, played pivotal roles in that stretch.

Key stat For the seventh time in eight games, the Nuggets were outscored in the first quarter (32-30).

Up next The Nuggets host the Miami Heat on Friday and the Thunder kick off a six-game homestand on the same night against Houston Rockets.

Regular Season Series

Series tied 1-1

Matchup Prediction

Nuggets: 31.8%
Thunder: 68.2%
*According to ESPN's Basketball Power Index

Recent Plays

4th 0.0 End of Game 122 - 124
4th 0.0 End of the 4th Quarter 122 - 124
4th 0.1 Nikola Jokic defensive rebound 122 - 124
4th 0.1 Peyton Watson blocks Shai Gilgeous-Alexander 's 4-foot driving layup 122 - 124
4th 15.0 Nikola Jokic lost ball turnover (Alex Caruso steals) 122 - 124

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nba/500/okc.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originOKC https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nba/500/den.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originDEN
44-100 FG 42-89
44.0 Field Goal % 47.2
16-40 3PT 16-38
40.0 Three Point % 42.1
18-23 FT 24-33
78.3 Free Throw % 72.7
47 Rebounds 55
13 Offensive Rebounds 13
34 Defensive Rebounds 42
29 Assists 34
15 Steals 8
6 Blocks 6
14 Turnovers 18
0 Team Turnovers 0
14 Total Turnovers 18
0 Technical Fouls 2
0 Total Technical Fouls 2
0 Flagrant Fouls 0
16 Points Conceded Off Turnovers 23
26 Fast Break Points 21
50 Points in Paint 50
28 Fouls 22
16 Largest Lead 8

Game Information

Ball Arena

Location: Denver, CO
Attendance: 19,522 · Capacity:

2024-25 Northwest Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
Oklahoma City 23 5 .821 - W8
Denver 16 11 .593 6.5 W2
Minnesota 14 14 .500 9 L3
Portland 9 20 .310 14.5 L2
Utah 7 21 .250 16 L1
Full Standings

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