Until the end of the third quarter, it seemed like the OKC Thunder had lost their eighth game against the Denver Nuggets.

Nikola Jokic and Michael Porter Jr. had different ideas for the Nuggets. An impressive comeback led by the Denver Stars helped lead to their 124-122 victory, snapping OKC’s consecutive winning streak. With six minutes left in the third quarter, OKC led 84-73. Center Chet Holmgren and star guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had OKC cooking at every level and, although the lead was surmountable, they seemed comfortable.

That feeling of comfort didn’t last long, as the duo of Jokic and Porter led a comeback to give OKC a scare. Porter did an excellent job getting to the free throw line in this stretch and Jokic did what he does best: get his buckets into the paint. Combine that with a dry spell from OKC and at the end of the quarter, the two teams were tied at 95.

Again, the first half was completely led by the Thunder. Jalen Williams scored 15 to lead the way and Holmgren was close behind. OKC was shooting well enough to maintain an average lead, but as usual, was clicking on the defensive side of the ball.

Surprisingly, Nuggets veteran guard Russell Westbrook ended up putting in a huge performance. He finished with 29 points, six rebounds and six assists in, by far, his best game of the start of the season. Without his performance, Denver would surely have been out of the game. His acrobatic finishes and 75% three-point shooting were key factors in his standout play.

At the beginning of the fourth quarter, it was evident that the game would go down to the wire and that Denver would test the composure of this young team to maintain its winning streak. Westbrook scored the first three points of the fourth quarter with a layup and one, followed by a 3-pointer from Porter and then two more from Westbrook. These weren’t non-stop points, with Gilgeous-Alexander getting to the rim and sophomore guard Cason Wallace doing the same shortly after.

Both teams rallied and Denver took a seven-point lead with 3:24 remaining. Peyton Watson gave Denver this lead, and the undefeated streak looked to be in the greatest danger it had seen to that point. Denver stayed comfortably ahead thanks to their relentless defensive pressure.

With 1:44 left and trailing by six, Gilgeous-Alexander dribbled the ball with his foot and committed a violation in the defensive zone. Watson made another layup to extend the lead to eight, but Williams answered with a step-back mid-range jumper and a transition three. The pressure was on OKC from that point on to pull off a stop. On a messy play with the shot clock winding down and with less than 30 seconds remaining in total, Jokic was fouled, giving the ball to the Nuggets, but only going one of two. A quick layup from Gilgeous-Alexander made the game much more interesting.

After missing a pair of free throws, Watson would be called on the last defensive possession of the game for the Nuggets, up by two. Gilgeous-Alexander ran down the court, headed toward the basket, and Watson batted him away to seal the game for the Nuggets.

OKC fell to 7-1 on the season with its first loss and was led by Williams with 29 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists, posting a near triple-double. Despite missing the final bucket, Gilgeous-Alexander scored 28 points and six assists for the Thunder.

OKC’s next matchup will be at 7 pm CT on Friday, November 8 against the Houston Rockets.

Do you want to join the discussion? As Thunder in YES on facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on the latest Thunder news. you can too meet the team behind cover.