Chris Paul Shines in Thunder's 113-101 Win over Nuggets as Nikola Jokic Drops 32

The Oklahoma City Thunder began the second half of their 2019-20 campaign strong by upsetting the visiting Denver Nuggets 113-101 at Chesapeake Energy Arena on Friday night.

The Nuggets and Thunder entered halftime knotted at 48. OKC opened up an 11-point lead in the third quarter, but the Nuggets erased it with a 10-0 run. The Thunder built up a double-digit lead again in the fourth quarter, and Denver was unable to recover.

OKC was without rookie first-round forward Darius Bazley, who suffered a bone bruise in his right knee during the team's 112-111 loss to the Boston Celtics on Feb. 9 and is expected to miss at least four-to-six weeks.

Denver notably had its starting five fully active for the first time since Jan. 6 with forward Will Barton III (knee) announced as active just before tip. 

Oklahoma City's 34-22 sixth-place standing in the Western Conference is a much more favorable position than many expected them to be in at this point in the season.

The Nuggets dropped to 38-18 but remain second to the first-place Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference.

Notable Performances

OKC G Chris Paul: 29 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists

OKC C Steven Adams: 19 points, 17 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 steals, 2 blocks

OKC F Danilo Gallinari: 15 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal

OKC G Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: 11 points, 9 rebounds, 9 assists, 1 block

OKC G Dennis Schroder: 11 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals

DEN C Nikola Jokic: 32 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal, 1 block

DEN G Jamal Murray: 21 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 1 block

DEN F Will Barton III: 16 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal

DEN G Gary Harris: 7 points, 4 rebounds

Balanced Attack Propels Thunder Past Nuggets

Seven of nine active Thunder players scored in double digits Friday night, including all five starters, and each effort served a different but necessary role.

Paul's clutch gene struck again down the stretch to prevent the Nuggets from mounting any substantial comeback. The 34-year-old All-Star point guard bucketed nine points in the game's last five minutes.

That excludes a crucial sequence from Paul in the third quarter. He sunk a pull-up to stretch OKC's shrinking 66-65 lead then executed a four-point play to give the Thunder additional breathing room:

Paul was complemented by Adams' 19th double-double of the season as well as Gilgeous-Alexander overcoming a rusty start—the 2018 first-rounder was 1-of-10 at one point—to come one assist and one rebound shy of his second triple-double this year:

Head coach Billy Donovan has found a way to effectively orbit his young talent around Paul:

How the likes of Adams, Gallinari, Gilgeous-Alexander and Schroder continue to complement Paul as this season barrels toward the postseason will determine whether the Thunder make the playoffs for the fifth straight campaign.

Defeating the second-place Nuggets, who previously beat them 110-102 on Dec. 14, is a solid place to start.

Nikola Jokic Continues to Make MVP-Caliber Statements

Jokic probably won't win the league MVP, but the 7-foot center is as crucial to the Nuggets as any player is to his team. 

That was on display to start the second half of the season against the Thunder as Jokic led all scorers with 32 points on 12-of-15 shooting:

Head coach Michael Malone was asked pregame why Jokic doesn't receive more MVP talk league-wide, per Mike Singer of the Denver Post. "I'm not sure," he responded. "And we don't concern ourselves about it. If you want to sleep on the Nuggets, if you want to sleep on Nikola, keep on sleeping."

The problem in this particular game wasn't the Thunder sleeping on Jokic but rather the Nuggets reserves sleepwalking:

Generally speaking, Denver is perhaps overlooked as a true contender despite sitting in second place behind the Lakers because of how difficult it is to pinpoint Jokic's ceiling.

The two-time All-Star has the ability to be the most dominant big man in the game, comparing directly to reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo statistically:

However, he admitted during a sit-down with NBA on ESPN aired Wednesday that he has lost "20, 25 pounds" during this season to improve upon a relatively underwhelming first month of the season.

Oklahoma City contrastingly floored a reliable supporting cast around Paul, and it made the difference in the game. The Nuggets featured three double-digit scorers, all starters, with Barton, Jokic and Murray.

Moving forward, much like last season, the Nuggets seem primed to only go as far as Jokic and Murray can take them.

What's Next? 

Both squads return to the floor Sunday evening.

Oklahoma City will finish an away trip at the San Antonio Spurs, while the Nuggets will return home to face the Minnesota Timberwolves.