If this game was a preview of the first round of the NBA playoffs, the Denver Nuggets would like this to be a mulligan before the real thing. The Thunder took their third victory in four games against the Nuggets this season with a 104-89 victory on Friday night. The Nuggets lost to the Thunder earlier in the week.
The Nuggets ended the first quarter tied at 17 with the Thunder, but let things slip away after that. Though they made 40.3 percent of their field goals, the Nuggets had several players with poor shooting nights. Wilson Chandler made only one of his 10 shots and finished with no rebounds. Danilo Gallinari finished with 17 points and nine rebounds, but made only 3-of-10 shots from the field. He was 10-of-11 from the free throw line. Nene finished with 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting, as well as grabbing nine boards. Kenyon Martin added 14 points and 13 rebounds.
Off the bench, Raymond Felton scored 17 points, while Al Harrington played just 13 minutes and fouled out of the game.
For the Thunder, Kevin Durant scored 28 points on 9-of-21 shooting. Russell Westbrook added 17 points, dished the ball out for eight assists and stole the ball six times. The team committed only 10 turnovers while the Nuggets had 17.
The Nuggets (48-31, 17-23 away) have three games remaining in the regular season and will host the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday.