Oklahoma City was undefeated (and on NBC’s NBA Power Rankings). Denver came in rattled and without Jamal Murray (concussion) and Aaron Gordon (calf strain).
It’s also easy to look past the injuries because the Nuggets also have Nikola Jokic — and his size, combined with a night where it looked like Russell Westbrook jumped in the hot tub time machine, led to one of the surprising upsets of the young season. Jokic had a 23/20/26 triple-double, and Westbrook dropped 29, which was enough to get the Nuggets the 124-122 victory.
Jokić and Russ were UNREAL tonight in the @nuggets to win
Joker: 23p, 20r, 16a, 2s, 2b
Brodie: 29p (10-15 shooting), 6r, 6aJokić joins Westbrook (Apr. 2, 2019) as the second player to record a 20/20/15 game since Wilt Chamberlain in 1968! pic.twitter.com/zwozPyYZ2M
— NBA (@NBA) 7 November 2024
The Thunder hit some big shots late, and driving Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had a chance to send the game to overtime, but Peyton Watson — playing because Gordon was out — saved the day with this block.
The Thunder fall to 7-1 and are now in a three-way tie for first in the West with the Suns and Warriors. Denver improves to 5-3, this is a big win for a team looking to keep their head above water the next two weeks until they get healthy.
