The Oklahoma City Thunder lost to the Denver Nuggets by nine points, though that could have been two points less had Russell Westbrook not tipped the ball to the opposing basket during the game.
Midway through the third quarter, Westbrook battled for the rebound against Nuggets big man Nikola Jokic following a missed Paul Millsap shot. The Thunder star had a hand on the ball, but he instead tipped it directly to the basket to the delight of Denver and the home fans at Pepsi Center.
https://twitter.com/nuggets/status/1100625035289448449
As expected, the shot was credited to Jokic who would probably have scored had he got the ball before Westbrook tipped it. Still, it's a lost point for a Thunder team that is certainly ruing the mistakes they made in the highly anticipated showdown.
The Nuggets ended up winning 121-112, with Nikola Jokic finishing with a near triple-double of 36 points, nine rebounds and 10 assists. For his part, Russell Westbrook almost had a triple-double as well, posting 22 markers, 14 boards and nine dimes in a losing effort.
Denver extended their winning streak to five and improved to 42-18 on the season. Meanwhile, OKC remains third but is now four games behind the Nuggets in the Western Conference standings.
It's also worth noting that the Mile-High City team won the season series against the Thunder, though OKC can avoid a season sweep when they meet again in March.
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