DENVER — Riding a red-hot shooting night from distance, the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Denver Nuggets 121-111 in the first rematch this season of their electric 2025 playoff series.
The Thunder torched with 19 makes on 48 shots from 3-point range. The Nuggets couldn’t keep up, falling behind by as much as 18 despite decent shooting themselves. Denver hit on a higher percentage of their chances from beyond the arc, but shooting was a big difference.
“There were times when we broke down rotations, which were mistakes, and we’ll watch on film… So we just have to shore up the rotations,” David Adelman said. “I think we could have shot 50, and they all would have been good ones for the most part, the way they guard.”
Peyton Watson led the Nuggets with 29 points on a night when Jamal Murray struggled to get going from the field. The first-time All-Star, news that was announced earlier on Sunday, hit just four of his 16 shots.
“I thought Jamal got really good looks,” Adelman said. “We missed some wide-open shots.”
Nikola Jokic battled through the Thunder’s physical play in his second game back from a month-long knee injury to tally 16 points, eight assists and seven rebounds. The Nuggets pulled Jokic after 29 minutes of action, as he’s both limited on minutes and the game was out of reach.
“I think so,” Adelman answered if players were forcing Jokic the ball, not used to his presence. “I also think that after a while, I felt like we were forcing things. Instead of just, you know, finding the open guy,”
Reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was the spark for the Thunder with a leading 34 points. It was Cason Wallace with a career-high seven hits, while Aaron Wiggins and Isaiah Joe each made more than three triples that powered OKC.
“We just have to look at the tape and just do what we want to do, which I think was the right thing, but do them better,” Adelman said. “We just didn’t do well enough tonight… just a lot of errors are gotta be a lot better.”
NBA Standings and All-Star staff impacts
With Sunday’s loss and the Spurs’ win, the two teams are even on wins at 33, but the Texas team has fewer losses. They claim second in the West right now and the Thunder are 5.5 games ahead in first. Because OKC’s staff went to the All-Star Game last year, they’re ineligible, meaning Sunday’s Nuggets loss gets San Antonio’s staff, not Denver’s, to the event where they’ll coach Jokic and Murray.
What’s next for the Nuggets?
After facing the top team in the NBA on Sunday, the Nuggets again face the league’s second-best team in Detroit. Without Jokic, the Nuggets lost on their home floor to the Pistons this past Tuesday. They’ll play in Michigan on Tuesday, starting a three-game road trip that goes through New York and Chicago.
The Nuggets will meet the Thunder three more times in the next nine weeks, and that’s before their expected matchup in the playoffs.
