Denver Nuggets – Oklahoma City Thunder · NBA

Win probability changed during the game. · 9 March 2026

DEN126–129OKC

Is it worth watching?

Highly recommended

It was more exciting than 92% of NBA games since 2017

· It was still open in the final minutes
· It stayed close for almost the whole game

It measures how much the win probability moved during the game —without looking at who won or at the score— and compares it with the 10,950 NBA games with a curve since 2017. “Highly recommended” is the most intense 20%, “recommended” runs from 50% to 80%, and “skippable” is the rest. Source: ESPN.

↑ OKC winsDEN wins ↓

Home team's win probability across the game (source: ESPN). The band rises when OKC leads and falls when DEN does.

This is how the game was decided.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander decided it, the Oklahoma City Thunder player with the most points (35, with 9 rebounds and 15 assists; +2 with him on the floor); the winner's best plus-minus was Jared McCain's (+19). The criterion: the winner's points in the box score; plus-minus says who was on the floor when the game opened up.

The game-winner in Oklahoma City Thunder 129-126 Denver Nuggets (March 9, 2026) was hit by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: a three-pointer with 3.3 s left in the fourth quarter, putting the Oklahoma City Thunder up 129-126. They never trailed again.

The biggest run of Oklahoma City Thunder 129-126 Denver Nuggets (March 9, 2026) was a 12-0 run by the Denver Nuggets in the first quarter (from 9:07 to 7:07), from 9-8 to 21-8. The Oklahoma City Thunder' best was a 11-0 run in the second quarter (from 8:57 to 5:02), from 45-46 to 56-46.

▸See where these figures come from

Play: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander makes 25-foot three point step back jumpshot (Ajay Mitchell assists).

I count as the game-winner the basket that puts the winning team ahead for good. Source: the official NBA play-by-play (since 2002-03) and each team's official box scores.

A run here is consecutive points by one team without the opponent scoring. Source: the official NBA play-by-play (since 2002-03) and each team's official box scores.

Source: the game's official box score and play-by-play.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander decided this game: his points put his team ahead with 3.3 seconds left in the fourth quarter, and the opponent never led again.

It is one of the 9 games he has decided this way in the NBA since the 2002-03 season.

His profile shows the games Gilgeous-Alexander decided

▸See where these figures come from

A game is decided by the last basket that puts a team ahead in the final ten seconds of the fourth quarter or of an overtime, if that team wins.

9 March 2026 · The source is the ESPN play-by-play, play espn:401810788:697; the date is the one on the NBA box score.

Rotations · who was on the floor

Closing lineup · DEN

Braun · Gordon · Hardaway · Brown · Jones

Closing lineup · OKC

Williams · Gilgeous-Alexander · Joe · Mitchell · McCain

Q1Q2Q3Q4

DEN

Nikola Jokic

40′ · +2

Christian Braun

38′ · -2

Jamal Murray

37′ · +5

Aaron Gordon

28′ · +14

Cameron Johnson

23′ · +9

Tim Hardaway Jr.

33′ · -10

Bruce Brown

16′ · -15

Julian Strawther

3′ · -3

Jonas Valanciunas

6′ · -8

Spencer Jones

16′ · -7

OKC

Jaylin Williams

40′ · +4

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

39′ · +2

Isaiah Joe

32′ · -7

Luguentz Dort

30′ · -15

Cason Wallace

17′ · -27

Ajay Mitchell

29′ · +11

Jared McCain

22′ · +19

Kenrich Williams

13′ · +8

Aaron Wiggins

18′ · +16

Each bar is a stint on the floor (source: NBA). The number is minutes played and the team's +/− with him on the court. DEN and OKC.

These lineups played the most minutes together.

Denver Nuggets

Murray, Braun, Hardaway, Gordon, and Jokic played 8.9 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 2 points.
Murray, Johnson, Braun, Gordon, and Jokic played 8.0 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 11 points.
Murray, Brown, Valanciunas, Hardaway, and Gordon played 6.0 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 8 points.

Oklahoma City Thunder

Gilgeous-Alexander, Dort, Joe, Williams, and Wallace played 10.6 minutes together.
Williams, Dort, Joe, Wiggins, and Mitchell played 6.0 minutes together.
Gilgeous-Alexander, Williams, Williams, McCain, and Mitchell played 5.1 minutes together.

The plus-minus of each Oklahoma City Thunder lineup is not shown: its rotation stints do not add up with each other.

▸See every lineup of the game

Denver Nuggets

Murray, Braun, Jones, Hardaway, and Jokic played 4.1 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 4 points.
Johnson, Braun, Jones, Hardaway, and Jokic played 3.2 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 3 points.
Brown, Strawther, Braun, Hardaway, and Jokic played 3.0 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 3 points.
Murray, Johnson, Braun, Jones, and Jokic played 2.9 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 7 points.
Brown, Braun, Jones, Hardaway, and Jokic played 2.5 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 6 points.
Johnson, Braun, Hardaway, Gordon, and Jokic played 2.4 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 1 point.
Murray, Johnson, Braun, Hardaway, and Jokic played 2.1 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 6 points.
Murray, Brown, Johnson, Jones, and Gordon played 1.6 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 6 points.
Murray, Brown, Johnson, Gordon, and Jokic played 1.5 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 1 point.
Murray, Brown, Johnson, Jones, and Jokic played 1.1 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 4 points.

Oklahoma City Thunder

Gilgeous-Alexander, Wiggins, Williams, McCain, and Mitchell played 4.3 minutes together.
Gilgeous-Alexander, Joe, Williams, McCain, and Mitchell played 3.7 minutes together.
Gilgeous-Alexander, Dort, Williams, McCain, and Mitchell played 3.2 minutes together.
Gilgeous-Alexander, Dort, Joe, Williams, and Mitchell played 2.7 minutes together.
Gilgeous-Alexander, Wiggins, Williams, Wallace, and McCain played 2.4 minutes together.
Williams, Dort, Joe, Wallace, and Mitchell played 2.4 minutes together.
Gilgeous-Alexander, Dort, Joe, Wiggins, and Williams played 2.1 minutes together.
Gilgeous-Alexander, Dort, Joe, Williams, and McCain played 2.0 minutes together.
Gilgeous-Alexander, Joe, Wiggins, Williams, and Mitchell played 1.3 minutes together.

▸See where these figures come from

The lineups come from the NBA's official rotation: who was on the floor and when. Each lineup's plus-minus is worked out from every player's stints and is only shown when they all add up with each other and with the final score.

Jamal Murray covered 4.41 km, more than anyone in the game.

Nikola Jokić touched the ball 112 times, a game high.
Nikola Jokić made 87 passes, a game high.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander defended 6 shots at the rim, a game high, and opponents made 3.
Nikola Jokić had 19 rebound chances, a game high.

▸See what was measured for each player

Denver Nuggets

Player	km	km/h	Touches	Passes
Jamal Murray	4.41	7.2	81	56
Christian Braun	4.36	7.0	37	33
Nikola Jokić	4.15	6.2	112	87
Tim Hardaway Jr.	3.38	6.2	34	24
Aaron Gordon	3.25	6.8	53	34
Cameron Johnson	2.78	7.3	21	15
Spencer Jones	1.98	7.7	18	12
Bruce Brown	1.91	7.0	30	25
Jonas Valanciunas	0.66	6.5	11	8
Julian Strawther	0.35	7.2	4	3

Oklahoma City Thunder

Player	km	km/h	Touches	Passes
Jaylin Williams	4.30	6.5	70	66
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	4.23	6.5	96	67
Isaiah Joe	3.99	7.4	37	29
Luguentz Dort	3.59	7.1	31	21
Ajay Mitchell	3.56	7.3	48

How far does Jamal Murray run per game?

The figures come from the NBA's optical tracking (NBA.com) for this game; speed is each player's average while on the floor.

Who guarded whom

Christian Braun guarded Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for 11.1 minutes, over 58 possessions.
In that time, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 26 points and made 10 of 13 shots.
Jaylin Williams guarded Nikola Jokić for 10.4 minutes, over 50 possessions.
In that time, Nikola Jokić scored 22 points and made 8 of 13 shots.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander guarded Christian Braun for 6.1 minutes, over 35 possessions.
In that time, Christian Braun scored 0 points and made 0 of 1 shots.

▸See all 21 matchups of two minutes or more

Denver Nuggets defending

Defender	Attacker	Min	Poss	Pts (FG)
Braun	Gilgeous-Alexander	11.1	58	26 (10/13)
Jokić	Williams	5.2	33	8 (3/3)
Jokić	Dort	4.3	18	3 (1/6)
Hardaway	Mitchell	3.0	15	4 (2/2)
Gordon	Williams	3.0	16	0 (0/1)
Hardaway	Joe	2.7	16	3 (1/1)
Murray	Wallace	2.5	13	0 (0/3)
Murray	Joe	2.2	11	0 (0/1)
Johnson	Joe	2.2	12	3 (1/2)
Jones	Williams	2.2	10	0 (0/1)

Oklahoma City Thunder defending

Defender	Attacker	Min	Poss	Pts (FG)
Williams	Jokić	10.4	50	22 (8/13)
Gilgeous-Alexander	Braun	6.1	35	0 (0/1)
Dort	Gordon	4.7	21	2 (0/1)
Joe	Hardaway	4.5	18	8 (3/5)
Mitchell	Murray	3.8	16	6 (3/6)

Matchups come from the NBA's tracking (NBA.com) for this game: how long each defender guarded each attacker and what the attacker produced in that time. Only matchups of two minutes or more are shown.

Who stood out on defense during the season

These figures cover the whole 2025-26 regular season, not this game.

Denver Nuggets

Tim Hardaway Jr. drew 0.09 charges per game over his 79 games.
He ranks 31 of 399 in the league.
Cameron Johnson drew 0.09 charges per game over his 54 games.
He ranks 31 of 399 in the league.
Nikola Jokić deflected 2.7 passes per game over his 65 games.
He ranks 40 of 399 in the league.

Oklahoma City Thunder

Cason Wallace deflected 4.4 passes per game over his 77 games.
He ranks 1 of 399 in the league.
Jaylin Williams drew 0.26 charges per game over his 65 games.
He ranks 5 of 399 in the league.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander recovered 0.8 loose balls per game over his 68 games.
He ranks 14 of 399 in the league.

Hustle figures come from the hustle stats the NBA publishes (NBA.com) and rim defense comes from its tracking; both cover the regular season. For each player in this game we show the figure that ranks him highest in the league, and for each team, the three best ranked. Ranks count players with at least 30 games and, at the rim, at least 4 defended shots per game.

The Oklahoma City Thunder have won 41 of their 81 games against the Denver Nuggets.

41-40record of the Oklahoma City Thunder · NBA 2008-09 – 2025-26, regular season and playoffs

3-1in 2025-26

See the full head-to-head in the Analyst

See where it comes from

Official NBA box scores, regular season and playoffs, 2008-09 – 2025-26. It counts every game between the two teams that the house holds, this one included.

SportiveWorld knows much more about this game

Game context

Attendance

18.203

100% of capacity

Paycom Center · Oklahoma City

Scoring

255

combined points

23.8 above the season average (231.2)