The Oklahoma City Thunder, fueled by big games from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Chet Holmgren, on Thursday opened their NBA campaign with a dominant 102-87 victory over Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets in Denver.
Gilgeous-Alexander, who was runner-up to Jokic in Most Valuable Player award voting last season, scored 28 points, while Holmgren added 25 points, a career-high 14 rebounds, four blocked shots and two steals for the Thunder, who led by as many as 20 points.
Oklahoma City withstood a triple-double from Jokic, who claimed his third Most Valuable Player trophy in four years last season. The Serbian star scored 16 points with 12 rebounds and 13 assists, but the Nuggets connected on just 35.4 percent of their shots from the field — making just 15 of 54 shots in the second half as the Thunder romped home.
Photo: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images / USA Today
Oklahoma City and Denver finished with matching 57-25 records last season, the Thunder claiming top seed in the Western Conference on a tiebreaker, but falling to Dallas in the conference semi-finals.
Holmgren impressed on both ends of the floor, blocking a shot by Jokic in the third quarter and sprinting for a dunk.
“I’m just trying to go out there and execute, and help make winning plays, and we put enough of them together tonight to come away with a win,” Holmgren said.
Four-time NBA champion Klay Thompson scored 22 points on his Dallas debut to give reigning Western Conference champions the Mavericks a boost in their 120-109 victory over the San Antonio Spurs.
Slovenian star Luka Doncic scored 28 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Mavs, who fell to the Boston Celtics in last season’s NBA Finals and acquired Thompson in a free-agent deal in the off-season with the hope of going even further this season.
Thompson, who won four titles in 13 seasons with the Golden State Warriors, was delighted with his first outing for the Mavs.
“Couldn’t ask for a better start,” Thompson told broadcaster TNT. “Just sharing the flow with [Kyrie Irving], Luka and the rest of the guys — very special after a hard month of really good work, but it’s just a small step for where we want to go.”
Spurs star Victor Wembanyama, aiming to build on last season’s Rookie of the Year campaign, connected on just five of 18 shots from the field on the way to 17 points.
The Spurs also coughed up 19 turnovers leading to 17 points for the Mavericks.
Chris Paul, an 11-time All-Star point guard brought in to lend veteran experience to the young San Antonio squad, scored all of his points on a lone three-pointer, finishing one of six from the field with eight assists.
Elsewhere, reigning champions the Boston Celtics, coming off a season-opening rout of the New York Knicks, got off to a slow start against last season’s second-worst team Washington, who led by as many as eight points early on.
It was tied at 51-51 with five minutes left in the second quarter, but Boston closed the first half on a 13-3 run and cruised from there to a 122-102 victory.
Jaylen Brown celebrated his 28th birthday by scoring 27 points and Jayson Tatum added 25 with 11 rebounds for Boston, who had 19 points from Derrick White.
“This was our first road game ... we started off a little slow, but we stayed the course and we were able to get the win,” Brown said.
In Thursday’s other game, the Minnesota Timberwolves edged the Sacramento Kings 117-115.
SIBLING RIVALRY: Marc Marquez was locked in a duel with his little brother, falling behind at one point before recovering for his first season-opening victory since 2014 Six-time world champion Marc Marquez yesterday won the MotoGP season-opening Thailand Grand Prix to complete a dominant debut weekend at his new Ducati Lenovo Team, having also romped to Saturday’s sprint. The Spanish great took the 26-lap grand prix by 1.732 seconds for his 63rd MotoGP victory from younger brother Alex Marquez, who is still seeking a first checkered flag, with Francesco Bagnaia third to complete an all-Ducati podium. It completed a perfect weekend for Marc Marquez, who took pole position, the sprint victory and the grand prix win for a maximum 37 points to open the 22-leg 2025 campaign. He led from
AC Milan’s slender hopes of reaching next season’s UEFA Champions League took another hit on Thursday with a 2-1 defeat at Bologna which left them eight points from Serie A’s top four. Sergio Conceicao’s team sit eighth, some way behind fourth-placed Juventus after losing an entertaining contest at the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara, a match which was rescheduled from October last year due to torrential rain and flooding. Swathes of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy, much of which is fertile agricultural land, had been left under water following a massive autumn downpour. Dan Ndoye prodded home the decisive goal in the 82nd minute
VALUABLE POINT: Relegation-threatened Valencia snatched a thrilling 3-3 draw at CA Osasuna thanks to a remarkable backheel volley by Umar Sadiq Barcelona on Sunday secured a comfortable 4-0 win over Real Sociedad to move back top of La Liga. Aritz Elustondo’s early red card gave Hansi Flick’s side a comfortable afternoon, with Gerard Martin, Marc Casado, Ronald Araujo and Robert Lewandowski on the score sheet. Atletico Madrid beat Athletic Bilbao on Saturday to temporarily knock the Catalans from their perch, while Real Madrid, third, lost at Real Betis Balompie. Flick was able to rotate his side a little ahead of the UEFA Champions League round-of-16 visit to face SL Benfica tomorrow and still move one point above Atletico. “There were a lot of things that
Former Australian motorcycle gang member-turned-golfer Ryan Peake, who served a lengthy jail term for assault, yesterday produced a “life-changing” maiden win to qualify for The Open Championship. Peake held his nerve for a one-stroke victory at the New Zealand Open, earning him a berth at the major in Portrush, Northern Ireland, in July, pending clearance to travel as a convicted criminal. The 31-year-old from Perth celebrated animatedly and was showered with champagne by friends on the 18th green of the Millbrook Resort course near Queenstown after a redemption story rarely seen in the refined sport of golf. Peake held back tears as he
RSS