Thunder Suffers Worst Loss of Season in Denver

Originally Published: Mar 3, 2010 9:27 PM CDT

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Corey DeMoss
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

DENVER -- The Oklahoma City Thunder struggled on both ends of the floor all night and had an abysmal second half on the way to a 119-90 loss to the Denver Nuggets Wednesday, its worst defeat of the season.

The Thunder (36-24) played its second game in as many days and seemed fatigued from the opening tip-off. The offense never got in rhythm, and the Nuggets (40-21) maintained constant ball movement to find big holes in the defense and get easy shots.

The Thunder shot just 38 percent in the first half, largely thanks to Denver rolling almost constant double teams onto Kevin Durant. That defensive strategy resulted in multiple shot-clock violations and five turnovers.

The Nuggets’ ball movement resulted in 55 percent shooting in the first half, and they registered 13 assists in their first 20 baskets. They went into halftime with a 61-52 lead, and the Thunder was only able to stay within striking distance because it made five 3-pointers.

Denver continued to extend its lead at the beginning of the second half, and the Thunder began attempting 3-pointers on almost every possession. After going 5-of-8 from beyond the arc in the first half, OKC went 2-of-7 in the third quarter. The Nuggets outscored the Thunder 31-12 in the third quarter and went into the final period with a 28-point lead.

Both teams pulled the majority of their starters in the fourth quarter, and the reserves did not perform any better for the Thunder. The Nuggets built a lead of as much as 40 points before the Thunder went on a small run to make the final score more respectable.

Kevin Durant and James Harden – who played most of his minutes in the fourth quarter – led the Thunder with 19 points apiece. Serge Ibaka also added 15 points off the bench, and Russell Westbrook scored 11.

Carmelo Anthony led all scorers with 30 pointers and Nene scored 20 for the Nuggets. J.R. Smith finished with 18 points and Chris Anderson scored 13, both off the bench.

Before Wednesday’s debacle, the Thunder’s biggest margin of defeat this season was 18 to the Boston Celtics on Dec. 4. Oklahoma City will try to recover when it travels to Los Angeles to take on the Clippers at 9:30 p.m. Friday.