On December 17, Beijing time, the second and third places in the West ushered in a direct dialogue, and the Nuggets played against the Thunder at home. In the first quarter of the game, the two teams fell into a tug-of-war early, all the way to 20 draws. At the end of the quarter, Watson scored five points in a row on a jumper to help the Nuggets lead by four points into the second quarter.
In the second quarter, Watson continued to play well, Jordan Jr. also scored off the bench, and the Nuggets took the lead to stretch the difference to double digits. But soon the Thunder made adjustments, Jaylin made consecutive long-range shots, Chet also sent a wonderful dunk, and the Thunder continued to close the point difference, ending the first half with only a two-point disadvantage.
In the second half, the game was still scorching, and the Nuggets always maintained a slight lead. The two sides tied the game at 31 in the quarter, and the Nuggets led the Thunder 87-85.
In the final quarter of the competition, the Nuggets took the lead to stretch the difference to double digits, but the Thunder did not give up lightly, relying on the excellent play of Alexander and Jalen to close the difference to 1 point in the last minute. At the decisive moment, Jokic missed the whistle, and Alexander fought for a rebound and then pulled a single pull-up jump shot to complete the quasi-final shot. With Jokic's pass broken out of bounds in the final 1 second, the game ran out. In the end, the Thunder beat the Nuggets 118-117.
Shay Gilgeous-Alexander 25 points, 6 rebounds, 8 assists and 2 steals;Jalen Williams 24 points;Lugunz-Dort 13 points and 4 rebounds;Jaylin Williams 11 points and 4 rebounds;Chet Holmgren 17 points, 11 rebounds and 9 blocks;Isaiah Joe 12 points.
Nikola Jokic had 24 points, 6 rebounds, 12 assists and 2 stealsMichael Porter had 20 points and 11 rebounds;Jamal Murray had 15 points and 5 assists;Julian Strauser had 8 points and 4 rebounds;Aaron Gordon had 16 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals;Christian Braun 14 points;Payton Watson had 13 points and five rebounds.
Alexander quasi-lore Nuggets