With a chance to start their 2026-27 season 1-0, the Denver Nuggets collapsed. The Nuggets had control of their season opener against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday night, but were then outscored by 16 points in the second half, depriving them of what would've been a huge road win to start the new season.
The Nuggets had some obvious concerns in the loss, as they scored just 84 points while shooting 38% from the field, 27% from beyond the arc, and 64% from the free-throw line, but one area truly cost them: turnovers.
The Nuggets turned the ball over 22 times, and losing the turnover battle by 10 is an obvious recipe for disaster. After the game, David Adelman spoke about what happened in the second half and how the turnover problems cost them the game.
"We did not space well for each other. I think sometimes you have a bad shooting night, the guys try to do things on their own instead of playing with the pass, and that leads to mistakes," Adelman said. "The 21 points [allowed] is not crazy off the 22 [turnovers], but that's what cost you in this game. Especially a game where both teams had a really bad night offensively."
The Nuggets had some obvious lapses on Thursday night, and while most of the credit should go to the Thunder's suffocating defense, Denver has to be better.
"It was going to come down to details, and the turnovers were a big deal because they shot 13 more field goal attempts. I mean, that's what happens when you don't turn the ball over. A sloppy night for us, especially in the second half. Just have to clean it up," he finished.
Fixing this mistake
Fortunately for the Nuggets, it is only the first game of the season. Sure, it sucks to lose a marquee matchup against one of their biggest rivals and start the season 0-1, but they have 81 games left to figure things out before the playoffs. There is time for the Nuggets to fix this turnover issue before they face a defense of this caliber again.
— StatMuse (@statmuse) October 23, 2026
Jamal Murray had the worst game of any Nuggets player, finishing with as many points as turnovers, six apiece, and shot just 2-11 from the field. Obviously, we know what kind of player Murray is. Coming off his first career All-Star and All-NBA season, this was a clear outlier for the 29-year-old point guard.
As a team, the Nuggets just had an off night. They will clean up these mistakes, with Murray and Nikola Jokic taking charge, and learn from this poor performance. We should try to avoid overreacting to this one-game mishap, but if it continues, then it will become much more of a conversation.
In any game, 22 turnovers are unacceptable, but doing it in the season opener on national TV against the Thunder only amplified the concern. They will be fine.
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