NBA, Oklahoma City Thunder-Denver Nuggets 95-128

The message coming from the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City is clear. In the West the level has risen and there are many teams that want to become contenders, perhaps even the young and very interesting Thunder, but the reigning champions remain head and shoulders above everyone else. Jokic and his teammates, in fact, give a real lesson to the hosts, fresh from away victories in Cleveland and Chicago, showing the basketball that propelled them to a well-deserved title. Denver ultimately wins an uneventful match 128-95.

THE MATCH

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The Nuggets get off to a great start right away with Jokic dominating and Porter Jr. hurting Okc’s defense from the perimeter. Denver stamps the number one public danger Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (in the end he will finish with a very bad 2/16 from the field) and runs away in the final part of the second quarter, arriving, with the Serbian’s beautiful basket at the siren, at +18 at the interval. The script does not change in the third period, with the guests holding the reins of the match without any problems and Oklahoma City chasing. The excellent contribution from the bench by Watson (a player to keep an eye on in the Nuggets rotation this season), 17 points in 22′, which is also felt on a defensive level, allows the visiting team to close the score already at the end of the third half. The last quarter thus becomes a long garbage time. The Nuggets therefore maintain their unbeaten record by sending a clear signal to the entire Western Conference.

Oklahoma City: Holmgren 19 (6/8, 1/4, 4/4 TL), Jal. Williams 13, Mann 12. Rebounds: Dieng 5. Assists: Gilgeous-Alexander 7. Denver: Jokic 28 (11/14, 1/2, 3/3 tl), Porter Jr. 20, Murray 19. Rebounds: Jokic 14. Assists: Murray 8.