Oklahoma City Thunder – Denver Nuggets · NBA

Win probability changed during the game. · 16 December 2023

OKC118–117DEN

Is it worth watching?

Highly recommended

It was more exciting than 87% of NBA games since 2017

· 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.

↑ DEN winsOKC wins ↓

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

This is how the game was decided.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander decided it, the Oklahoma City Thunder player with the most points (25, with 6 rebounds and 8 assists; +3 with him on the floor); the winner's best plus-minus was Isaiah Joe's (+12). 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 Denver Nuggets 117-118 Oklahoma City Thunder (December 16, 2023) was hit by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: a jump shot with 1.1 s left in the fourth quarter, putting the Oklahoma City Thunder up 118-117. They never trailed again.

The biggest run of Denver Nuggets 117-118 Oklahoma City Thunder (December 16, 2023) was a 8-0 run by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the second quarter (from 7:32 to 5:12), from 31-42 to 39-42. The Denver Nuggets' best was a 7-0 run in the second quarter (from 4:58 to 3:41), from 42-39 to 49-39.

▸See where these figures come from

Play: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander makes 8-foot two point shot.

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 1.1 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.

16 December 2023 · The source is the ESPN play-by-play, play espn:401584968:692; the date is the one on the NBA box score.

Rotations · who was on the floor

Closing lineup · OKC

Gilgeous-Alexander · Williams · Holmgren · Dort · Wiggins

Closing lineup · DEN

Jokic · Gordon · Porter · Murray · Braun

Q1Q2Q3Q4

OKC

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

37′ · +3

Jalen Williams

33′ · +10

Chet Holmgren

32′ · +10

Luguentz Dort

26′ · +5

Josh Giddey

15′ · -7

Jaylin Williams

22′ · -8

Isaiah Joe

27′ · +12

Ousmane Dieng

5′ · -4

Cason Wallace

18′ · -7

Kenrich Williams

13′ · -7

Aaron Wiggins

12′ · -4

DEN

Nikola Jokic

37′ · -9

Aaron Gordon

33′ · -7

Michael Porter Jr.

32′ · +1

Jamal Murray

28′ · -3

Justin Holiday

25′ · -8

Christian Braun

25′ · +1

Reggie Jackson

22′ · +4

Peyton Watson

16′ · +3

Julian Strawther

15′ · +8

DeAndre Jordan

6′ · +5

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

These lineups played the most minutes together.

Oklahoma City Thunder

Gilgeous-Alexander, Dort, Holmgren, Williams, and Williams played 7.5 minutes together.
Gilgeous-Alexander, Dort, Giddey, Holmgren, and Williams played 5.9 minutes together.
Williams, Wiggins, Holmgren, Williams, and Wallace played 4.5 minutes together.

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

Denver Nuggets

Murray, Porter, Holiday, Gordon, and Jokic played 16.3 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 1 point.
Strawther, Braun, Watson, Jordan, and Jackson played 6.3 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 5 points.
Porter, Strawther, Braun, Jackson, and Gordon played 4.3 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 3 points.

▸See every lineup of the game

Oklahoma City Thunder

Gilgeous-Alexander, Dort, Joe, Holmgren, and Williams played 4.4 minutes together.
Gilgeous-Alexander, Joe, Giddey, Holmgren, and Wallace played 2.9 minutes together.
Gilgeous-Alexander, Joe, Williams, Dieng, and Wallace played 2.3 minutes together.
Williams, Joe, Wiggins, Williams, and Wallace played 2.2 minutes together.
Gilgeous-Alexander, Joe, Holmgren, Dieng, and Wallace played 1.8 minutes together.
Williams, Joe, Wiggins, Williams, and Williams played 1.6 minutes together.
Gilgeous-Alexander, Joe, Holmgren, Williams, and Williams played 1.5 minutes together.
Gilgeous-Alexander, Dort, Joe, Holmgren, and Williams played 1.5 minutes together.
Gilgeous-Alexander, Dort, Giddey, Williams, and Williams played 1.3 minutes together.
Gilgeous-Alexander, Dort, Joe, Giddey, and Williams played 1.3 minutes together.
Williams, Joe, Giddey, Wiggins, and Williams played 1.2 minutes together.
Gilgeous-Alexander, Dort, Williams, Williams, and Wallace played 1.2 minutes together.
Gilgeous-Alexander, Dort, Joe, Williams, and Wallace played 1.2 minutes together.
Gilgeous-Alexander, Dort, Joe, Wiggins, and Holmgren played 1.2 minutes together.

Denver Nuggets

Porter, Jackson, Holiday, Gordon, and Jokic played 4.2 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 6 points.
Strawther, Braun, Watson, Jackson, and Jokic played 3.7 minutes together.
Their team tied that stretch.
Murray, Braun, Holiday, Gordon, and Jokic played 2.9 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 2 points.
Murray, Porter, Braun, Gordon, and Jokic played 2.4 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 2 points.
Murray, Porter, Watson, Gordon, and Jokic played 2.1 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 3 points.
Murray, Braun, Watson, Holiday, and Jokic played 2.0 minutes together.
Their team lost that stretch by 1 point.
Porter, Braun, Watson, Jackson, and Jokic played 1.5 minutes together.
Their team tied that stretch.
Murray, Porter, Braun, Jackson, and Jokic played 1.2 minutes together.
Their team won that stretch by 2 points.

▸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.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander covered 4.36 km, more than anyone in the game.

Nikola Jokić touched the ball 109 times, a game high.
Nikola Jokić made 82 passes, a game high.
Chet Holmgren defended 14 shots at the rim, a game high, and opponents made 4.
Chet Holmgren had 21 rebound chances, a game high.

▸See what was measured for each player

Oklahoma City Thunder

Player	km	km/h	Touches	Passes
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	4.36	6.5	73	45
Jalen Williams	4.31	7.2	59	33
Chet Holmgren	3.85	6.6	61	44
Isaiah Joe	3.56	7.3	36	22
Luguentz Dort	3.33	7.1	24	13
Jaylin Williams	2.38	6.0	32	27
Cason Wallace	2.32	7.0	17	13
Josh Giddey	2.11	7.7	27	22
Aaron Wiggins	1.64	7.4	15	12
Kenrich Williams	1.63	7.1	11	7
Ousmane Dieng	0.61	7.1	4	2

Denver Nuggets

Player	km	km/h	Touches	Passes
Nikola Jokić	4.25	6.2	109	82
Michael Porter Jr.	4.01	6.8	54	34
Aaron Gordon	3.81	6.4	52	38
Christian Braun	3.41	7.4	33	21
Jamal Murray	3.28	6.5	66

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 stood out on defense during the season

These figures cover the whole 2023-24 regular season, not this game.

Oklahoma City Thunder

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander deflected 3.5 passes per game over his 75 games.
He ranks 3 of 373 in the league.
Chet Holmgren contested 11.6 shots per game over his 82 games.
He ranks 4 of 373 in the league.
Jaylin Williams drew 0.28 charges per game over his 69 games.
He ranks 6 of 373 in the league.

Denver Nuggets

Nikola Jokić deflected 3.0 passes per game over his 79 games.
He ranks 8 of 373 in the league.
Jamal Murray contested 5.6 shots per game over his 59 games.
He ranks 71 of 373 in the league.
Reggie Jackson drew 0.06 charges per game over his 82 games.
He ranks 75 of 373 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 Denver Nuggets have won 40 of their 81 games against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

40-41record of the Denver Nuggets · NBA 2008-09 – 2025-26, regular season and playoffs

1-3in 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

19.611

100.5% of capacity

Ball Arena · Denver

Scoring

235

combined points

6.6 above the season average (228.4)

⚖️ The last two minutes

Official NBA L2M report: every call in the endgame, reviewed by the league.

18 calls reviewed1 errors admitted by the NBA

Foul: Shooting · 01:11.1

Christian Braun → Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

Braun (DEN) avoids initiating any illegal contact with Gilgeous-Alexander (OKC) during his drive to the basket and shot attempt.