Denver Nuggets head coach David Adelman discussed the final moments of Monday’s 129-126 defeat at Oklahoma City, focusing on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s game-winning shot. “We threw a lot at him. Aaron came to trap him, he went away from the trap, he hit a hell of a shot,” Adelman said. “You can’t foul him. I thought it was well contested. A big-time shot by a really good player.”
Adelman praised his team’s execution down the stretch despite the loss. “We executed well. We got good shots. At the end, we got Nikola the three, got the ball inside to him, got Aaron on the block a couple times. He didn’t finish at the rim, I’ll take that every day,” he said. “Jamal was great in the side pick and roll with Nikola. Sometimes players make plays in big games, and Shai obviously finished it.”
The coach highlighted Aaron Gordon’s early contributions and the challenges of his recent return. “With the matchups he had, he had good juice early, got to the rim. It’s tough to get your rhythm on a minute restriction,” Adelman said. “We just saw a lot of good things from him. The second quarter, we had six points in six minutes, and that lost us the game.”
Adelman addressed Oklahoma City’s small lineup adjustments. “To their credit, Dort made a three. You put your guys in coverage, your center like JV. The runouts, their pace compared to ours, that frustrated us,” he said. “We got lucky to only be down a few because we didn’t play well enough.”
The Nuggets coach discussed the effectiveness of Nikola Jokic and Tim Hardaway Jr. in different roles. “Nikola is another triple-double, so efficient. Tim was the guy tonight. He pretty much carried us from the three-point line,” he said. “Other guys have to make shots when you put two on someone as good as Shai, and they stepped up tonight.”
On defensive challenges and officiating, Adelman noted, “We challenged the block shot on Shai. They overruled it. They said the contact after the ball was hit was more than marginal. That’s why we challenged it.” He also mentioned the Dort-Jokic screen incident but chose to move past it: “It happened, it caught him in the face. You just try to win the game.”
Adelman concluded by praising his team’s resilience and patience with returning players. “Nikola’s a month into the season after missing a whole month. Aaron’s the same. Jamal Murray played hobbling around a little bit but gave a great effort,” he said. “It’s good to see these guys playing for their teammates.”
Denver fell to 39-26 while the Thunder improved to 51-15. Oklahoma City will host Boston on Thursday, and Denver travels to Houston on Wednesday.
