The Denver Nuggets lost in blowout fashion to the Oklahoma City Thunder to drop to 0-4 in preseason action.

Michael Porter Jr. led the way with 15 points for the starters, while Julian Strawther and Trey Alexander added 12 points apiece. Unfortunately, the Nuggets efficiency without their top offensive playmakers left something to be desired, and the Thunder showed just how good they could be defensively. The Nuggets turned the ball over 22 times tonight, and Michael Malone was not happy about it.

“I mentioned pregame that my biggest concerns: Can we take care of the ball and keep them out of transition?” opined Malone postgame. “And we failed miserably in that regard.”

The Nuggets were without Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Russell Westbrook, and Peyton Watson tonight, but the starting group that filled in did a nice job in the first quarter. Michael Porter Jr. had a great start and looked like the best player on the floor in a game that also had Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Porter began the game with 12 points, four rebounds, and one assist. Aaron Gordon also had a solid start, playing a very Jokic-like role for the starting unit.

Unfortunately, the game went the other way in a hurry. In the last three quarters of the game, the Nuggets were outscored in every quarter by a significant margin. The Thunder really locked in, and it was a level the Nuggets couldn’t quite match, especially without the three-time MVP. OKC outscored Denver 94-61 in the last three quarters.

Julian Strawther was a bright spot with 12 points and four assists, starting in place of Jamal Murray. He had a tough job today as the de facto starting point guard and had four turnovers. That should have been expected vs the Thunder perimeter defensive group, but Strawther still showcased some good decision making overall.

“I really like playing in DHO with Dario,” Strawther shared postgame. I feel like me and him got good chemistry just with being being able to get some floaters or hit him in a short roll.”

Saric only had 5 points tonight (and he needs to start making his three-pointers) but he did have four rebounds and four assists playing mostly power forward next to DeAndre Jordan. The Nuggets will need to iron out those rotations in the regular season, but the Strawther-Saric DHO will probably be a thing they go to in halfcourt sets with the second unit relatively frequently.

The Thunder made Denver look real bad

It wasn’t all bad for Michael Malone and the Nuggets tonight.

“I did like the beginning of the game, like had that group played in both ends of the forth, a lot of good things,” shared Malone. “And obviously, you’re playing some guys, you know, down the stretch that you’re trying to see what they’re capable of doing.”

It’s not that the Nuggets are that bad. It’s that the Thunder, from top to bottom, were far more crisp tonight. They looked like a well-oiled machine that knew exactly what they were supposed to do. It’s partly the way the Thunder organization is run. Everything is structured well and with a full understanding that the players have to buy in to what’s going on.

The Nuggets, for whatever reason, are behind where the Thunder are despite having similar continuity. There are far more questions about where the Nuggets will end up than the Thunder, who are probably going to win 60 games this season. The Nuggets got a close look, and will get another close look in nine days, at the team that will seriously challenge the hierarchy in the Western Conference this season.

Michael Malone finished up with this message at the end of his press conference tonight:

“Listen, man, there’s no panic. There are concerns, of course, There are. We have lots of areas that we can prove upon, but I know that when we’re fully healthy and we have our guys playing, I know what this team is capable of, and it’s my job in this next 9 days to help us get there for opening night as we approach the regular season, and you know, I look forward to that challenge.”

How the Nuggets respond to going down 0-4 and looking pretty bad this preseason will be very telling on how the regular season will go. The sky isn’t entirely falling or anything. Nikola Jokic will play a bunch of games, and the Nuggets will have a bunch of wins.

But the questions around him are larger than many would like to acknowledge, and we might be seeing a glimpse of those concerns right now.

Final Rotations