NBARecap

Thunder force 22 turnovers, beat Nuggets 96-84

Chet Holmgren grabs 17 rebounds and blocks four shots as Oklahoma City pulls away in the second half and Nikola Jokic shoots 5-of-19.

Jalen Williams: 21 points, 7 of 15 from the field
Chet Holmgren: 12 points, 17 rebounds, 4 blocks
Nuggets: 22 turnovers to the Thunder's 12

Published October 23, 2026 at 1:16 AM1 min read How this story was written

Final

Denver Nuggets

Oklahoma City Thunder

Box score and plays

Jalen Williams scored 21 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder forced 22 turnovers in a 96-84 win over the Denver Nuggets on Thursday, October 22.

Chet Holmgren added 12 points, 17 rebounds and four blocks for a double-double. Williams made 7 of 15 shots and 5 of 6 free throws. Oklahoma City never trailed after halftime.

Oklahoma City shot 37.9 percent, barely better than Denver's 37.8, and still won by 12. The Nuggets led 37-28 midway through the second quarter, their biggest lead of the night at nine points.

The game turned in the third quarter, when the Thunder outscored Denver 26-16. After two lead changes all night, Oklahoma City held the lead the rest of the way.

The margin reached 17 when Shai Gilgeous-Alexander hit a 27-foot three-pointer with 1:44 left for a 93-76 lead. He finished with 17 points on 6-of-19 shooting, 3 of 11 from deep.

Denver answered with threes from DaRon Holmes II and Ryan Nembhard to cut it to 93-82. Kenrich Williams hit a three with 37.5 seconds left for 96-82, and Nembhard's layup with 10.3 seconds left set the final score.

Aaron Gordon led Denver with 20 points on 6-of-9 shooting. Nikola Jokic scored 13 on 5-of-19 shooting, and the Nuggets were outscored by 20 points with him on the floor. Jamal Murray shot 2 of 11 and committed six turnovers.

Turnovers decided it. Denver gave the ball away 22 times to Oklahoma City's 12, and Ajay Mitchell had five steals. The Nuggets grabbed 19 offensive rebounds but did not turn them into enough points.

Oklahoma City improved to 2-0, and Denver fell to 0-1.