Chet Holmgren Anchors Thunder Defense as OKC Holds Nuggets to 84 Points

Chet Holmgren controlled the paint Thursday night as the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Denver Nuggets 96-84 in their home opener, improving to 2-0 despite an unusually quiet scoring performance from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Holmgren finished with 12 points, 17 rebounds and four blocks while helping Oklahoma City hold Denver below 40 percent shooting.

Jalen Williams led the Thunder with 21 points, while Gilgeous-Alexander scored 17 on 6-of-19 shooting and failed to reach 20 points for the first time in 141 games. Oklahoma City still found another way to win. The Thunder forced 22 Denver turnovers, recorded 12 steals and nine blocks, and scored 21 points off turnovers. Nikola Jokic was held to 13 points on 5-of-19 shooting, while Jamal Murray managed only six points on 2-of-11 shooting. Aaron Gordon led Denver with 20.

That is the part of Oklahoma City’s start that should concern the rest of the Western Conference. The Thunder did not need an MVP-level scoring night from Gilgeous-Alexander to control a talented Denver team featuring Jokic and DeMar DeRozan. Holmgren’s rim protection and rebounding gave OKC a defensive foundation while Williams supplied enough offense to pull away in the second half. After opening the season by limiting Victor Wembanyama, Holmgren followed with another disruptive defensive performance against one of the NBA’s most difficult frontcourts.