Nuggets fall to Thunder in season-opener after dismal shooting night

These Nuggets are going to face more palatable defenses than the Oklahoma City Thunder in most games, but they’re going to need to shoot the ball better than their one-game sample size so far to remain a championship contender.

Denver shot 35% from the field and 7 for 39 from 3-point range in a 102-87 season-opening loss to the Thunder on Thursday night at Ball Arena. Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. combined for 27 points on 9-of-31 shooting with Lu Dort, Alex Caruso and company giving them nightmares, as the Nuggets didn’t get enough production from the top or bottom of the roster.

An injury-afflicted Oklahoma City pulled away from the healthy Nuggets with a 27-17 third quarter. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander piled up 28 points, seven rebounds, eight assists and three steals. Chet Holmgren added 25 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks.

Nikola Jokic led the Nuggets with his first triple-double of the season, amassing 16 points, 12 boards and 13 assists.

The Nuggets committed 10 of their 15 turnovers in the first half, carrying a preseason trend into their first meaningful minutes of 2024-25. After halftime, the lack of scoring could be mostly chalked up to missing shots — 22 of their 29 attempts in the decisive third frame.

“They’re a great defensive team,” coach Michael Malone said before the game. “They’re physical. They try to push you out. … The one challenge we have is if we can try to force the Thunder to be a half-court team, which means that we’re taking care of it and not giving up 25-plus points in transition, we’ll give ourselves a chance to win.”

Transition scoring was fairly even. So were paint points and second-chance points. But the Thunder’s shot-creators and shot-makers simply outplayed Denver’s, with the depth of options standing out throughout the night.

Before it fell apart, the season-opener started exactly how one would expect: with Jokic blocking Holmgren in the post then burying a 3-pointer at the other end. That seemed about as fortuitous an outside shooting omen as the Nuggets could’ve hoped for after their heavily scrutinized offseason, but soon they were air-balling 3s as much as they were making them. The starting lineup was effective enough that it didn’t matter at first. It built an 18-10 lead in the first minutes.

Then Michael Malone made his first substitutions — Julian Strawther and Russell Westbrook for Braun and Murray — and the Thunder went on a 21-6 run in the last six minutes of the quarter. Denver was already trailing by the time Jokic checked out of the game for the last sub of Malone’s nine-man rotation, Dario Saric. The small-ball second unit, with Murray staggering, had a couple of rough sequences on the defensive glass but didn’t get too exposed for its lack of size. That’s where Isaiah Hartenstein’s fractured hand may have helped the Nuggets out, removing a 7-footer from Oklahoma City’s rotation.

Braun turned the ball over three times and missed his corner 3s, which OKC was content to let him take, but the new starter was otherwise a bright spot. His on-ball defense was respectable against Jokic’s MVP runner-up from last season. And the 23-year-old looked under control when attacking the rim and leaving his feet. On one baseline drive, he recognized Dort setting his feet to take a charge, floated to a stop in mid-air and banked an 8-footer without running through Dort. In the introductory start, Braun finished with 16 points, seven rebounds, two steals and two blocks.