Nuggets Stumble 102-87 in Westbrook’s Debut, Season Opener Against Rival Thunder

For the first time since May 19, Ball Arena hosted a regular season basketball game in downtown Denver.

While the Denver Nuggets hosted the NBA’s Opening Night last season, raising their first-ever championship banner, this year, the Nuggets had to wait until the third day of the regular season to host the Oklahoma City Thunder in both team’s season openers. The game was nationally televised, tipping off shortly after 10:00PM ET/8:00 PM MT on TNT.

Ball Arena rained down with cheers as the in-arena announcer introduced every member of the 2024-25 roster. Shortly after the game began, the crowd erupted again, as Nikola Jokic hit a three-pointer for the first basket of the game and the first basket of the Nuggets 2024-25 season. Once again, the sold-out crowd cheered, with many giving a standing ovation, as Russell Westbrook checked in to the game for the first time as a Denver Nugget.

Denver led 18-10 at that moment, riding the highs of the new season and the energy that the fans brought with it.

But that would be the high point of the evening for the Nuggets.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander hit a three-pointer to cut in to Denver’s lead, and then found Chet Holmgren for a pull-up jumper on the ensuing possession. By the end of the first quarter, Oklahoma City held a 31-24 lead, going on a 21-6 run from the point that Westbrook checked in to the game. Julian Strawther, the NBA’s leading scorer in the preseason, went 0-for-2 from the field with a foul committed, in an early preview of what should be the second-year guard ascending the depth chart.

Dario Saric also made his team debut in the first quarter, replacing Jokic at center.

The second quarter was competitive, with both teams forcing missed shots and turnovers in a tug of war battle. The Nuggets battled to back within four points with 4:19 to go in the quarter, following a Christian Braun basket. Braun was a bright spot for Denver, shining in his first start in a new role: starting shooting guard, in place of the departed Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.

Once again, Gilgeous-Alexander and Holmgren had their way with Denver’s defense, helping the Thunder build a 58-51 halftime lead.

The Thunder won the third quarter 27-17 to essentially decide the game. The first quarter was a seven-point Thunder advantage, the second quarter was even, the Thunder won the third quarter by 10 points, and the Nuggets won the fourth quarter by two points.

CHET ON BOTH ENDS 😤

WHAT A SEQUENCE 🔥 pic.twitter.com/JJCT05E3K6
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) October 25, 2024

The Nuggets already had a problem when Jokic was off the court last season, but new, versatile bench pieces were supposed to offset that effect. First off, Jokic had a -9 court rating in this game, which isn’t going to be a winning formula for the Nuggets the majority of the time. Westbrook had an abysmal -24 court rating in 21 minutes: in a 15-point loss.

No one is going to call the Westbrook project a failure after just one game, but it’s quite possible that Westbrook lost this game for Denver. The veteran point guard played too many minutes alongside Jokic, rather than complementing the bench’s deeper pieces.

Braun, a bright spot as mentioned, was the only Nuggets player to finish with a positive rating: +8 in 29 minutes. Braun was excellent defensively, picking up two blocks and two steals, and good offensively, finishing with a team-high (tied with Jokic) 16 points on 8-of-15 shooting, along with seven rebounds and one assist. Braun did have three turnovers and missed all thee of his three-point attempts, for areas he could improve in.

Reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic finished with 16 points on 6-of-13 shooting, 13 assists, and 12 rebounds: a poor man’s triple double in the season opener, and a dud-game by the 3-time NBA MVP’s high standards.

Michael Porter Jr. notched 15 points on 5-of-17 shooting, and Jamal Murray scored 12 points on 4-of-13 shooting: these guys needed to do more with the amount of shot attempts they recorded.

Most of the other empty possessions ended in the hands of Westbrook (2-of-10 FG, 1-of-6 3PT) or Peyton Watson (1-of-7 FG, 0-of-4 3PT.)

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the charge for the Thunder with 28 points, 8 assists, and 7 rebounds in 36 minutes, and Chet Holmgren stuffed the stat sheet with 25 points, 14 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, and 4 blocks, while shooting 11-of-18 from the field.

Oklahoma City outshot Denver from the field (42.6% to 35.7%) and three-point range (22.2% to 18.4%.)

The Thunder won 102-87, with a notably low scoring output from the Nuggets on their home court.

Tonight's 87 point effort tied for the fewest points the Denver Nuggets have scored in a regular season home game since the start of the 2016-17 season.

So the last time the Nuggets were that bad on offense in Ball Arena, Nikola Jokic was a rookie.
— Jake Shapiro (@Shapalicious) October 25, 2024