March 9, 2026; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) shoots against the Denver Nuggets in the first quarter at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 35 points, including a stepback 3-pointer in the final minute, to help the Oklahoma City Thunder earn a 129-126 home win over the Denver Nuggets on Monday.
Moments earlier, Gilgeous-Alexander appeared to have sealed the Thunder’s victory with another step-back 3-pointer, but a 4-pointer tied the game for the Nuggets.
Then Gilgeous-Alexander did it again, waiting for a moment before going over Spencer Jones and draining another big shot with 3.3 seconds left.
This time the Nuggets had no time to answer.
The dagger came on the same night that Gilgeous-Alexander tied Wilt Chamberlain’s NBA record with his 126th consecutive 20-point game. Gilgeous-Alexander added 15 assists and nine rebounds.
Jaylin Williams scored 29 points on a career-high seven 3-pointers and contributed 12 assists to help Oklahoma City win without big men Chet Holmgren (flu) and Isaiah Hartenstein (calf).
The last time the two teams met in Oklahoma City on February 27, the game was shaky from the start, resulting in an early technical foul on Gilgeous-Alexander for throwing the ball to Nikola Jokic, and a late hard foul on Jokic by Oklahoma City’s Lugenz Dort, which resulted in Dort’s ejection and a brief scuffle that resulted in two technical fouls.
The rematch went fairly subdued except for the lead changing a lot. Late in the day, Dort was called for a serious foul after a review.
Jokic was setting a screen on Jamal Murray when Jokic and Dort collided.
A free throw and Jokic’s 3-pointer on the ensuing possession helped the Nuggets close an eight-point deficit with 1:05 left and two minutes remaining. Jokic followed with a floater with 31.2 seconds left to cut the gap to one point.
Gilgeous-Alexander hit his first big late 3-pointer with 13.9 seconds left to put the Thunder up by four points.
On the next possession, after Jokic hit a 3-pointer, Williams was called for a foul away from the ball, giving Denver a chance to tie the game. Murray hit a free throw with 8.5 seconds left to make it 126-126.
After a timeout, Gilgeous-Alexander got one-on-one coverage from Jones and hit a shot to put the game away.
Ajay Mitchell, playing for the first time since Jan. 21, added 24 points for Oklahoma City. He was sidelined due to abdominal and ankle injuries.
Jokic had 32 points, 14 rebounds and 13 assists to go with 11 points in the fourth quarter, but it wasn’t enough to stop the Thunder from improving to 3-0 against the Nuggets this season.
Denver’s Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 28 points off the bench and Aaron Gordon had 23 points and 10 rebounds. Gordon scored 19 points in the first seven minutes of the game.
–Field level media
