The Denver Nuggets lost their season opener at home to the Oklahoma City Thunder, as OKC pulled off a defensive masterclass in a 102-87 win. This is a statement win for the Thunder, who went into Denver’s vaunted home court and walked out with a comfortable win. This was worrying for the Nuggets, who simply couldn’t match up to OKC’s stifling defense.
The Nuggets were led by Nikola Jokic posting a triple-double with 16 points (6-13 FG), 12 rebounds, and 13 assists. Christian Braun put up 16 points (8-15 FG) and seven rebounds while Michael Porter Jr. chipped in with 15 points (5-17 FG) and eight rebounds. Jamal Murray had a rough outing with 12 points (4-14 FG) and six rebounds.
“The Nuggets’ championship window is closed,” declared a fan after this one-sided showing.
“Nuggets better bubble-wrap their starters after every game this season. My god,” remarked Rob Perez about the Nuggets needing to avoid injury to be competitive this season due to their lack of depth.
“It really sucks Denver just flat out lost 21 & 22 to injury cause ngl this situation probably isn’t getting better going forward,” said streamer Dom2K while implying the best days for the Nuggets have already passed.
“Thunder finished the 1Q on a 21-6 run after Russell Westbrook checked in for his first 6 minutes as a Nugget. You can’t make it up lol,” said a fan who was shocked at Russ’ negative impact on the game.
“Russ hasn’t been good in this game, but man do I just absolutely love and respect the way he approaches the game. The intensity, the aggression. Even in the moments where he’s not thriving, I just kinda love the power and speed and tenacity,” said Sam Vecenie trying to find positives from Westbrook’s minutes.
“Nuggets have absolutely no shooting on their team. Murray & MPJ are the only guys you gotta close out to. Everybody else is a ‘watch & shoot’,” said one fan shocked at the lack of shooting talent on the roster.
The OKC Thunder looked every bit like the championship contenders they have been touted as this season.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (11-24 FG) led them with 28 points, seven rebounds, eight assists, two steals, and three blocks in a wonderful opening salvo to what could be an MVP season for the guard. Chet Holmgren had 25 points (11-18 FG), 14 rebounds, five assists, two steals, and four blocks in an all-around dominant showing.
The Thunder got great production from Aaron Wiggins off the bench, as the recently extended forward put up 15 points (7-9 FG) and six rebounds in just 19 minutes. Jalen Williams struggled offensively with 12 points (5-16 FG) but had a great defensive impact in the game with three blocks of his own.
The Thunder Could Dominate The West
The Thunder effortlessly managed this win from start to finish, looking far superior to the Nuggets for large chunks of the game. While they did struggle to contain Nikola Jokic at the start of the game, they locked him down completely and forced the Nuggets rotation to take on a scoring role, which they couldn’t live up to.
It’s important to note that Isaiah Hartenstein is injured for the foreseeable future, so we won’t even see the franchise at full strength until a few months into the season. This game also saw them survive a subpar offensive outing from Jalen Williams, who was the team’s second-leading scorer last season with 19.1 points per game.
The Thunder have great depth and high-performing youngsters, giving them a sizable championship window that has already begun. If the teams in the West can’t compete with the Thunder this season, it seems more likely than not that they won’t be competitive in the future either given OKC’s upward trajectory.
Thank you for being a valued reader of Fadeaway World. If you liked this article, please consider following us on Google News. We really appreciate your support.
