The Denver Nuggets kicked off their 2024-25 season with a frustrating 102-87 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. The final score was closer than the actual game, as the Thunder led by 20+ with most of the final quarter to go, and the Nuggets never truly recovered.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the way for the Thunder with 28 points, though he did so on 24 shots. Christian Braun matched up with him reasonably well, and so did the rest of the Nuggets overall.

Michael Malone, in general, was happy with the defensive effort the Nuggets gave.

“Thought the defense was amazing. Obviously we could have done a better job on the glass. I believe they had 13 offensive rebounds, but for the most part, our defense was a real positive.”

Any time the Nuggets can hold a team like the Thunder to 102 points should be celebrated, but it helped that the Thunder shot a very low percentage from three. The Nuggets contributed to that in some ways, but the overall level of defense was probably a bit overstated by some wide open misses.

On the other side, the Nuggets shot 7-of-39 from three, and it’s really hard to win games that way.

“We got a lot of wide open [shots], and those are ones that’ll go down,” Christian Braun shared postgame. “We know that if we continue to shoot those shots, we’re gonna continue to create those shots. and we know those will fall, but I don’t think that’s where we lost the game.

As a whole the Nuggets shot just 35.4% from the field and 17.9% from three. They got to the free throw line 14 times and made 10. It was simply an inefficient performance. Part of that can be attributed to facing an elite defense. Part of it can be that this was the first game of the year. In the end, the Nuggets had opportunities, and they didn’t convert at a high enough level to compete.

Nikola Jokic finished the game with 16 points, 12 rebounds,13 assists, two steals, and a block. He has just two turnovers and was a positive overall for what the Nuggets needed from him. The Thunder doubled him consistently though, and he made the right pass almost every time. He probably had close to 25 potential assists tonight or close to it, but the Nuggets struggling to convert from the perimeter allowed them to crowd Jokic even more.

Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. both struggled with the perimeter defense of Luguentz Dort, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Alex Caruso, and the small army of defenders the Thunder have at their disposal. Murray was never fully comfortable with 12 points, six rebounds, and four assists on 4-of-14 from the field. Porter was worse, shooting 5-of-17 from the field and 3-of-10 from three despite several open looks.

But looking at the box score, it’s hard not to identify Russell Westbrook and Julian Strawther and their struggles in the first game. The two were -24 and -23 in the plus-minus department, with Westbrook shooting 2-of-10 from the field and 1-of-6 from three. He struggled when driving into the teeth of the Thunder defense as well, and they were more than happy to let Westbrook shoot from the outside.

Strawther, for his part, was fine overall. 3-of-6 from the field and 0-of-2 from three for six points. He wasn’t super impactful though, and the Nuggets rarely found him on the perimeter with a chance to shoot tonight. In addition, he was one of the weaker links defensively with one of his primary matchups, Aaron Wiggins, scoring an efficient 15 points on nine shots.

It’s Just Game 1

Christian Braun had a solid game overall. 16 points on 8-of-15 from the field with seven rebounds, two steals, and two blocks. SGA was of course a superstar, but Braun made an impact in this game on both ends of the floor. He still shot 0-of-3 from three, and that’s going to chase him a bit until he starts making some outside shots, but his impact was good.

“I missed good looks, we all missed good looks. [Nikola’s] gonna make the right play every single time. and we know that [the shots] are gonna fall. I really believe that when I watch these guys put it to work. We’ve all put in the work. So just trust our game plan, and trust the work we put it in and they’ll fall.

Nikola Jokic had a different take.

“We are not a good shooting team, except Mike and Jamal,” Jokic shared postgame. “All of us are kind of streaky, not streaky, but just average shooters.”

The Nuggets of course have to be better on the interior, passing the ball, moving and creating open shots near the rim, and avoid turning the ball over. It’s a dangerous game to play in the modern NBA.

It’s still very close to preseason, and the Nuggets are still trying to work in some new faces. It’s not a great sign that the shooting was THAT bad, but it will normalize over time. Denver will have to create better shots overall though, and the right players have to take and make those shots when they occur.

0-1.

Final Rotations