The Oklahoma City Thunder are an elite team. David Adelman thinks they may be the best team in the NBA. Ryan Blackburn has them as his title pick for the 2026-27 season.
So, it should come as no surprise that the Denver Nuggets ultimately fell to the Thunder on the road in their season opener, a hard-fought 96-84 battle that ended up as a surprisingly defensive game. None of the stars ended up shooting well, and the game came down to which team took better care of the ball and executed best in the fourth quarter.
Denver can take some pride in ending the 141-game streak held by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of 20+ point performances, the longest such run in NBA history. SGA finished with 17 points but was held without a field goal for much of this game, only getting loose in the fourth quarter once the game started to spiral for the Nuggets. Christian Braun led the charge on SGA and had a strong first game defensively.
To hold any team to 96 points in the modern NBA should be seen as an accomplishment. The problem? Denver scored just 84 points, and their offense was a mess against one of the best defenses in the NBA.
Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray led the way in Denver’s struggles. Jokic scored just 13 points on 5-of-19 shooting to go with 7 rebounds and 5 assists. Murray scored just 6 points on 2-of-11 from the field, accumulating 3 assists compared to 6 turnovers in the process. Both stars struggled mightily and weren’t ready for the hounding defense of the Thunder that scrambled and made every possession as uncomfortable as possible.
Having Aaron Gordon back was a big deal, and he did deliver for the Nuggets with 20 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals and a block. The Nuggets decided to stagger Gordon with the second unit in the first half, and initially, his presence worked for the team. Rookie Trevon Brazile got his first points with the starters and grabbed an impressive 12 rebounds in 18 minutes to bolster those non-Gordon minutes.
Unfortunately, it was Cam Johnson who suffered an injury tonight, missing the second half with a sprained ankle. Johnson’s absence spiraled everything for Denver, who looked uncomfortable trying to incorporate Alpha Diallo into the starting group in the second half, as well as DeMar DeRozan who simply does different things than Johnson.
But rather than lock in on any single player’s performance, it’s best to understand from the greater point of view that the Nuggets had 22 turnovers as a team. The only rotation player to not turn the ball over was Johnson, and he played just 11 minutes. Everyone else looked bothered by the hounding defense of OKC, at least after the first quarter. Denver committed just one turnover in the first period, which means they committed 21 in the next three quarters combined.
Scoring 12 more points in a game you scored 84 isn’t difficult to see in retrospect. One shouldn’t expect Jokic and Murray to struggle like this again. These were really bad nights for Denver’s star due that’s been hallmarked for their consistency in the regular season. OKC’s an incredibly tough matchup, and losing Johnson during the game (along with not having Julian Strawther or Spencer Jones) is a good way to cramp Denver’s space for their stars to operate.
Still, it’s not an encouraging start to the season. Yes, the bench had some elements that should be valued. Marvin Bagley III is really good and will win his matchup in the second unit on many nights. DeMar DeRozan, despite the turnovers and some missed free throws, still found his was to 13 points off the bench and will be counted upon to score. Alpha Diallo will be counted upon to defend and was one of the reasons SGA had a bad night.
But this game wasn’t about the Nuggets bench, but rather the starters being unable to generate clean offense against an elite defense that’s given them fits for years. This Thunder squad will be waiting for Denver in the playoffs if the Nuggets can reach that playoff round. It’s been a while since the Nuggets won a game against OKC in which OKC actually played their starters, back in Game 6 of the 2025 NBA playoffs.
This game felt like last year’s playoffs though, starting off strong most games but becoming overwhelmed by the defensive pressure, physicality, and execution of an elite opponent. It feels a lot like last year in one specific way though: Denver had an injury, and the team just didn’t operate the same after that.
No matter whether it’s the Thunder, or the Minnesota Timberwolves, or the San Antonio Spurs, or another West playoff opponent, the Nuggets are going to be challenged this year. They may not have their fully healthy starting five all throughout the regular season and playoffs. I’d wager it’s unlikely that the team is fully healthy for a playoff run because very few teams are anymore.
The Nuggets are going to have to find ways to win, and build a real identity, that doesn’t just include having their top guys available when the time comes. If the Nuggets are a Jenga tower, and pulling exactly one starter out of the Jenga tower causes it to collapse, the foundation likely wasn’t that strong in the first place. Denver’s foundation can’t be “everyone is healthy and everything is awesome because of it.”
I’d expect the Nuggets to bounce back on Saturday against the New Orleans Pelicans, but they may have to do so with a new starting lineup just one game into the season. It’s never easy in the NBA.
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