Nuggets fans in shambles after brutal 43-point loss to Thunder

The Denver Nuggets entered Wednesday’s game against the Oklahoma City Thunder feeling poised to take a 2-0 series lead in this second-round matchup.

They ended the night with bruised egos following an embarrassing 43-point shellacking at the hands of a revengeful Thunder, who crushed Denver via a score of 149-106 to leave the affair at 1-1.

Coming off an improbable come-from-behind victory in the series opener, where Aaron Gordon drained a game-winning 3-pointer to give them the win, the Nuggets looked lethargic in Game 2. The Thunder set the tone early, and unlike in Game 1, they didn’t let up this time around. Oklahoma City ended the first period of Game 2 ahead by 24 points.

By halftime, that lead had already ballooned to 31 points. Oklahoma City also led by as many as 49 points, absolutely dominating the Nuggets on both ends of the court, leaving nothing for the Nuggets to cling to for another potential comeback.

Oklahoma City’s win also left Nuggets fans wallowing in pain online.

“Please shut down MPJ for the season he can’t contribute with 1 shoulder,” posted a fan on X (formerly Twitter).

“Super embarrassing,” another frustrated Nuggets supporter shared.

From a different social media user: “Rockies put up a better fight tonight”

“Should have just left after the first quarter,” lamented another fan.

That sentiment was echoed in another X post: “Shameful display to say the least…”

The Nuggets will go as far as Nikola Jokic takes them, so with the three-time NBA Most Valuable Player scoring only 17 points on 6-for-16 shooting from the field while accumulating six turnovers, it wasn’t a big surprise that Denver suffered a loss. What’s surprising, however, was the helplessness that the Nuggets showed in the contest.

As a team, Denver shot just 37.9 percent from the field and committed 21 turnovers while letting the Thunder connect on 56.2 percent of their attempts from the floor.

The Thunder barely edged Denver in the possession battle, as Oklahoma City outshot the Nuggets by only two shots from the field, but Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and company had plenty of easy buckets, uncontested buckets in transition. Oklahoma City had 26 fast break points to just five by Denver. Moreover, the Thunder scored 52 points in the paint while the Nuggets only had five points in the shaded area.

Game 3 of the series will be in Denver on Friday.