Gilgeous-Alexander scores 40 as Thunder top Nuggets 127-103 in matchup of West leaders

OKLAHOMA CITY — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 40 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Denver Nuggets 127-103 on Sunday in a matchup between the top two teams in the Western Conference.

Gilgeous-Alexander had eight assists and made all eight of his free throws for the West-leading Thunder, who won their seventh straight game and improved to 53-11. Jalen Williams added 26 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.

Denver’s Nikola Jokic, who along with Gilgeous-Alexander is a top contender in the NBA MVP race, had 24 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists. He on Friday night.

Michael Porter Jr. had 24 points and 15 rebounds for the Nuggets.

Denver went up 10-0 early as it took the Thunder nearly three minutes to score, but Oklahoma City cut its deficit to 29-28 by the end of the quarter.

The Thunder led 61-60 at halftime and took an 86-83 lead into the fourth quarter.

In a key sequence, Oklahoma City’s Aaron Wiggins stole the ball from Denver’s Russell Westbrook, then Chet Holmgren dunked at the other end to give the Thunder a 98-91 lead with just under nine minutes remaining. Denver coach Michael Malone was called for a technical foul, and Williams made the free throw. Oklahoma City controlled the game from there.

Takeaways

Nuggets: Jokic, normally the bully on the court, seemingly got frustrated with Oklahoma’s 7-footers, Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein. He put up numbers but wasn’t as dominant or smooth as he often is.

Thunder: Oklahoma City played at full strength after resting its key players, including Gilgeous-Alexander, during Friday’s .

Key mo

ment

Williams stole the ball from Jokic to spark a fast break. Oklahoma City’s Lu Dort went up for a one-handed dunk that would have ignited the crowd, but he missed. Williams collected the rebound, then found Dort open in the corner. Dort knocked down a 3 that put the Thunder ahead 112-99 with just over four minutes remaining.