There were mistakes the Nuggets could’ve, would’ve, should’ve avoided as a lead slipped through their fingers in the last four minutes Saturday night: one-on-one defensive coverages blown, uncharacteristic turnovers committed, possessions stretched too dangerously to the tail end of the shot clock.
But on the other side of those shortcomings was a team Denver recognizes no longer as a looming specter, but as an imminent threat to its Western Conference supremacy. In thunderous defeat, there might have been regret, but there wasn’t shame.
The Nuggets (17-10) will get another swing at the Thunder two weeks after Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s mid-range jumper with less than a second to go handed them their second home loss of 2023-24.
“You kind of see some of us in them,” coach Michael Malone said. “A young, promising team that is going through the building blocks of getting better. Going from a team that is trying to be a playoff team, and then trying to be a team that can advance in the playoffs and win at a high level in the playoffs. . … I know we wound up winning that game in OKC early in the year by a pretty big margin, but that was an anomaly. Every time we play this team, it seems like it’s a dogfight. It goes down to the wire.
“I think they have the NBA’s attention.”
And Chet Holmgren officially has Nikola Jokic’s attention. The 7-foot-1 rookie went for 17 points, 11 rebounds and nine blocks with an interior presence that was responsible for Denver shooting worse than 50% (26 of 53) in the paint.
That doesn’t happen to Denver in Denver. Jokic is a bastion of post efficiency. Jamal Murray (15 points on 13 shots) has the craft and awareness to navigate any coverage of their two-man game. Aaron Gordon has seemingly twice the muscle mass of Holmgren.
Holmgren wryly pointed out postgame that had Murray not posterized him in the first half, he would have finished with a triple-double.
“He changed a lot of the shots. He blocked a lot of the shots,” Jokic said. “… He was really good today at just being there. Yes, he had nine blocks, but I think he was just there, just to change your shot, too.”
After their first matchup, Jokic’s takeaway was that Holmgren needed to put on a few founds. Now, nearing the one-third mark of the season, Holmgren is widely considered Victor Wembanyama’s premier challenger for Rookie of the Year — a candidacy Jokic acknowledged but didn’t want to limit Holmgren to.
“I think that’s not supposed to be his goal,” the two-time league MVP said. “I think he can be much better than that.”
Holmgren was the most impactful player throughout the course of a game that Oklahoma City trailed by double digits, but Gilgeous-Alexander’s offense was the epicenter of the Nuggets’ one-on-one matchup headaches down the stretch. They defended the first-team All-NBA guard effectively for seven quarters this season, holding him to 7-of-31 from the field. But he ended on a 4-for-5 stretch, including the game-winner over Peyton Watson, who held Kevin Durant to an 0-for-10 second half recently.
“He’s a world-class player,” said Watson, who still managed a decent contest in spite of the considerable space Gilgeous-Alexander created while getting to his spot 13 feet deep from the elbow. “This league has the best players in the world. Especially him, with how hot he’s been and how well they’ve been playing as of late. I just tried my best to stay in front, forced him into a tough mid-range shot. But at the end of the day he hit the shot.
“Obviously I’m gonna go back and watch it several times … just looking at things I could have done better, maybe forcing him one way and keeping him that way instead of letting him counter.”
It didn’t help that Denver was trying to survive this one without Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who Malone hopes will be able to return Monday against Dallas after missing the last two games in concussion protocol. He locked down Gilgeous-Alexander in Oklahoma City, where the Nuggets won by 33.
The Thunder did what the Nuggets do best this time, scoring 64 in the paint. It was largely a result of those one-on-one blow-by attacks, whether from SGA or another talented driver. Oklahoma City has surplus of them, including Jalen Williams (24 points, 22 of them in the paint). Malone was left frustrated that his players didn’t follow through on scouting notes.
“It’s not like this is something they don’t do every night,” he said. “It’s something they thrive with. But for me personally, I thought our discipline sucked. I mean, how many times is a guy going to beat you going to his left hand, when we told you this morning, this guy’s a left-hand driver? And how many times are we gonna be hugged up and not be in a shrink position, a help position so I’m not leaving my teammate on an island? It’s hard to guard those guys one-on-one, but that’s why you need discipline and that’s why you need help behind it.”
The Nuggets won’t have to wait long for their opportunity to repent for any lapses in discipline. Oklahoma City jumped Denver into second place in the West with the win. Second place will be back Dec. 29 for the third of four matchups this season. Unless itap more than four.
