By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The top two Most Valuable Player (MVP) candidates of the current NBA season put on a show but it was Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder who got the last laugh against Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets, 127-103, on March 10, 2025, during their Western Conference heavyweight matchup.
Gilgeous-Alexander, who is now popularly called as “SGA”, outdueled Jokic in the battle of the Western Conference’s top 2 seeds after exploding for 40 big points while steering his squad to a convincing dub over the Nuggets.
It was still a nip-and-tuck affair in the first three quarters as neither of the teams failed to take full control of the ball game. Denver got it going in the first 12 minutes of action as Jokic immediately scored 14 points after schooling Oklahoma’s lack of size inside the shaded lane.
As a result of his early paint dominance, the Nuggets went off to the races and built a 10-point lead, only to be trimmed by the Thunder who received timely buckets from the duo of SGA and Jalen Williams.
Oklahoma had a rough shooting to start the game but thanks to their electric star duo who provided rejuvenating perimeter buckets that put them back into the ball game to avoid an early double-digit deficit.
Both teams engaged in a dog fight and weren’t separated by a huge disparity until the crucial and pivotal fourth quarter officially sounded.
Pumped up by the loud cheers from their home fans, the Thunder’s high-octane offense finally clicked in the final canto and ran down the exhausted Denver squad that was coming from a grueling overtime win over the Phoenix Suns.
When the fourth minute struck, Oklahoma started to pull away and built a 13-point lead, 112-99, off a Lugentz Dort three-pointer.
After that sequence, the Thunder continued to drain haymakers backstopped by SGA’s foul-baiting prowess that put him to the free throw line two times in the crucial stretch.
SGA also stuffed the stat sheets in the win and added eight rebounds, five assists, and three steals. Williams became Oklahoma’s second-best scorer as he chipped in 26 markers built from an efficient 7/14 shooting from the field alongside nine rebounds and eight dimes.
Chet Holmgren served as a swatting machine for the Thunder after tallying four blocks while also scoring 14 markers and grabbed eight boards.
On the other hand, Jokic had another near triple-double stat-line of 24 points, 13 rebounds, nine assists, and three blocks, but his all-around outing wasn’t enough to slow down the Oklahoma mayhem in the fourth.
The Nuggets will seek to bounce back against the Thunder in less than 24 hours as their rematch is set today at 8 AM, still to be played at Oklahoma’s home floor, the Paycom Center.
