OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. — The Oklahoma City Thunder rallied past the Denver Nuggets 96-84 on Thursday night in their first home game of the season at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, even as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s record run of 20-point nights came to an end.
Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 17 points and three assists, stopping his NBA-record streak of 20 or more points at 141 straight regular-season games. He was scoreless after the first quarter and had only two points at the half after missing all seven of his shots from the floor, and he still had just seven points heading into the fourth.
Denver led 27-24 after one quarter and 48-44 at halftime before Oklahoma City took control. The Thunder outscored the Nuggets 26-16 in the third to go up 70-64, then held Denver to 20 points in the fourth to pull away. It was the season opener for the Nuggets, who were knocked out in the opening playoff round last spring.
The win moved the Thunder to 2-0. They opened Tuesday with a 116-104 road victory over San Antonio in a rematch of last season’s Western Conference finals, when Gilgeous-Alexander scored 32 and Jared McCain added 20.
The opener featured a Thunder Community Foundation auction of autographed memorabilia on the concourse to benefit youth and community programs around the state. The Thunder played without Otega Oweh, Thomas Sorber and Nikola Topić, all recovering from surgery, while Denver was without Julian Strawther because of a knee sprain.
Gilgeous-Alexander did add to another list on the night. His career total of 426 blocked shots now ranks second among point guards in NBA history, trailing only John Wall’s 439.
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