Gilgeous-Alexander had 13 assists and the Thunder, who had lost three of four, sank 19 three-pointers. They went 8-of-13 from long range in the third quarter when Oklahoma City expanded a seven-point halftime cushion to 16.
Peyton Watson’s 29 points paced the Nuggets, who never led in the first of four games this season between the top two teams in the Western Conference. It was their first meeting since the Thunder beat Denver in Game 7 of the Western Conference semifinals last May on their way to winning the city’s first NBA championship.
The Nuggets’ pair of all-stars had a rather quiet night.
Nikola Jokic scored 16 points but took only nine shots in his second game back from a knee injury that sidelined him for 16 games. Jamal Murray, who earned his first all-star berth in his ninth NBA season Sunday, dished out 12 assists but scored just 12 points on 4-of-16 shooting — including 1-for-8 from three-point range.
The Thunder led by 14 in the first half and took a 62-55 advantage into the break. The Nuggets pulled to 74-70 in the third quarter before Chet Holmgren, also named an all-star reserve Sunday, hit a three and Wallace sank his sixth and seventh three-pointers. After a Denver timeout, SGA swished a three and so did Aaron Wiggins to cap a 12-0 run, with all the buckets coming from deep.
Both teams were missing several starters.
The Nuggets are hoping to get Christian Braun (left ankle) and Cameron Johnson (right knee) back before the all-star break but won’t have Aaron Gordon (right hamstring) until mid-March. Ruled out for the Thunder were Jalen Williams (hamstring), Ajay Mitchell (abdomen) and Alex Caruso (right adductor strain).
The Thunder did have centre Isaiah Hartenstein (calf) and the Nuggets had Jokic (knee), both of whom returned to their respective lineups Thursday.
Thunder: Host the Orlando Magic on Tuesday night.
Nuggets: Visit the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday night.
