Thunder beat Nuggets 96-84 as Jalen Williams scores 21 and Gilgeous-Alexander is held to 17

The Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Denver Nuggets 96-84 in their home opener at Paycom Center on Thursday night (US time; tip-off 1:30am GMT Friday 23 October). Jalen Williams scored 21 points and Chet Holmgren had 12 points, 17 rebounds and four blocks, according to AP and the box score.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the league’s two-time reigning MVP, finished with 17 points on 6-of-19 shooting. AP said it was the first time in 141 games that he had failed to score 20 points. Oklahoma City are 2-0; it was Denver’s first game of the season.

Score by quarter (ESPN): Nuggets 27-21-16-20, Thunder 24-20-26-26.

Second-half turnaround

Gilgeous-Alexander missed all seven of his shots in the first half, when the Thunder trailed by as many as nine points, and two free throws kept him from going scoreless in a half for the first time since his rookie season in 2019, AP reported. Denver led 48-44 at half-time.

A layup by Ajay Mitchell gave Oklahoma City a 64-62 lead in the third quarter, their first lead since 3-0, and the Thunder led 70-64 after three, AP said. A three-pointer by Gilgeous-Alexander made it 93-76 with 1:44 left; according to AP, he then asked to come out during a timeout and did not return.

Mitchell finished with 12 points and five steals off the bench, and Cason Wallace had nine points and four steals. Oklahoma City forced 22 Denver turnovers and committed 12.

Nuggets

Aaron Gordon scored 20 points on 6-of-9 shooting. Nikola Jokic had 13 points, seven rebounds and five assists on 5-of-19 shooting, and DeMar DeRozan added 13. Jamal Murray scored six points on 2-of-11 shooting with 10 assists. Denver shot 38 per cent from the field.

Attendance was 18,203. The Nuggets host New Orleans on Saturday and the Thunder host the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday (US time).

See also: Thunder beat Spurs 116-104 on opening night.