Oklahoma City Thunder beat Denver Nuggets 96-84: Jalen Williams scores 21 and Chet Holmgren grabs 17 rebounds as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s 141-game streak ends

The Oklahoma City Thunder overcame a rough shooting night from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to beat the Denver Nuggets 96-84 in their home opener at Paycom Center on Thursday, October 22. Jalen Williams scored 21 points, and Chet Holmgren had 12 points and 17 rebounds, the AP reports.

Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 17 points on 6-of-19 shooting, failing to score 20 for the first time in 141 regular-season games, an NBA-record streak that began on Nov. 1, 2024. The two-time reigning MVP missed all seven of his first-half shots as Denver, playing its first game of the season, led by as many as nine and went into halftime up 48-44. What the streak looked like in numbers.

Denver’s stars struggled even more. Nikola Jokic was held to 13 points on 5-of-19 shooting, including 1 of 7 from three-point range, and Jamal Murray had six points on 2-of-11 shooting with six turnovers. Aaron Gordon led the Nuggets with 20 points on 6-of-9, and DeMar DeRozan added 13. Denver also lost Cameron Johnson to a right ankle sprain late in the first half, and coach David Adelman called it “a minor thing,” adding, “I think Cam will be okay.” The Nuggets have not given a timeline, and their next game is Saturday at home against New Orleans, according to Friday’s injury report.

Ajay Mitchell’s layup gave Oklahoma City a 64-62 lead, its first since 3-0, and 3-pointers by Alex Caruso and Gilgeous-Alexander stretched it to 70-64 after three quarters. The Thunder led by as many as 17 in the fourth. Denver committed 22 turnovers that became 21 Thunder points, and its 84 points tied the franchise’s lowest total since February 2019, Jake Shapiro writes. “We made them earn everything,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “Thought the guys did a great job on a night we didn’t shoot it great.”

It was the second straight strong defensive outing for Oklahoma City, which beat San Antonio 116-104 on Tuesday. Denver’s starting five, which went 18-5 last season when all five played, was short-handed again: Spencer Jones sat out for hamstring injury management before Johnson went down.