Thunder vs. Nuggets: Five takeaways from OKC's win at Denver in NBA preseason opener
Joe MussattoTre Mann laid a nifty layup off the glass. Then he got back on defense, cut off Jamal Murray on the baseline and took a charge.
Remember last season when Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said Mann needed to eat his broccoli (play defense) in addition to just snacking on Skittles (getting buckets)?
Well, why not both?
Mann, the second-year Thunder guard, complemented his sick stepback jumper and shifty handle with high-effort defensive plays in the Thunder’s 112-101 win against the Nuggets on Monday night in Denver.
It was the preseason opener, so any hard assessment is premature, but the hype Mann received from teammates on media day was backed up in the Mile High City.
After taking the charge against Murray, Mann tried to take another charge later in the first quarter against spindly Nuggets guard Bones Hyland. Mann’s feet weren’t in the right place, but his head was.
Mann led the Thunder at halftime with 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting, including 3-of-5 from 3-point range. He finished with a game-high 17 points.
Mann started alongside Josh Giddey, Kenrich Williams, Aleksej Pokusevski and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl. While Giddey was the chief facilitator, Mann was the go-to scorer.
Mann is unlikely to start for the Thunder in the regular season once Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Lu Dort return, but expect Mann to be the Thunder’s leading scorer off the bench.
He has the offensive makeup of a prototypical sixth man, but he can be more than that if his defense improves. Monday night was an encouraging sign.
Here are four more takeaways from the Thunder’s preseason opener:
More:What Thunder rookie Chet Holmgren is learning about NBA life while rehabbing foot injury
Josh Giddey teases triple-double
Giddey committed three turnovers and was whistled for a technical in the first five minutes of the game.
Then the second-year Aussie guard settled down.
Giddey, in just 25 minutes, was one assist shy of a triple-double in his 14-point, 12-rebound, nine-assist night.
With Gilgeous-Alexander and Dort sidelined, Giddey was the face of the Thunder when OKC took the floor in Denver.
Aside from his near-triple-double, 2-of-2 from 3-point range was the most encouraging number from Giddey, a 26% 3-point shooter last season.
After three turnovers in his first five minutes, Giddey committed just one turnover in his remaining 20 minutes.
Nuggets center Nikola Jokic had a league-high 19 triple-doubles last season. Giddey tied for ninth on that list with four.
Carlson: Thunder big man Mike Muscala mourns mom's death while celebrating her spirit
Watch out for Aaron Wiggins
Second-year wing Aaron Wiggins shot 4-of-4 from 3-point range.
“Worked on it all summer,” tweeted his agent, Austin Walton. “Scary hours.”
Wiggins, who started the second half in place of Kenrich Williams, scored 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting while playing a swarming brand of defense.
The 55th pick in the 2021 draft had a solid rookie season, and it looks like he might take a leap in Year 2. He’s a stabilizer — plays hard and makes good decisions. Very Kenrich Williamsish in that sense.
At 6-foot-6, Wiggins is the type of rangy wing every team is looking for. If his 3-point shot goes in, as it did Monday, the Thunder might have gotten a second-round steal.
Carlson:How to watch Thunder games is changing again, but options actually have expanded
Darius Bazley plays backup center
Aleksej Pokusevski, not Darius Bazley, started at power forward. A slight surprise.
But maybe the days of Bazley playing power forward are over. He almost exclusively played center Monday night, backing up starting Thunder center Jeremiah Robinson-Earl.
Bazley even matched up against Nuggets backup center DeAndre Jordan despite Bazley’s size disadvantage. But with the league trending smaller and smaller, and the Thunder’s center options getting thinner and thinner, Bazley manning the five doesn’t seem like a bad idea. Especially if his shot-blocking gains carry over from last season.
On the offensive end, Bazley tried to force way too much. He shot 3-of-9 from the floor, repeatedly dribbling into traffic. He was 0-of-3 from deep.
More: Why Josh Giddey is excited to have Chip Engelland as OKC Thunder shooting coach
Thunder tip-ins
➤ Guard Lu Dort suffered a concussion in practice Sunday. The 23-year-old guard did not make the trip to Denver. He’ll be out until he clears the NBA’s concussion protocols.
➤ Center Mike Muscala (left ankle sprain) also stayed home in Oklahoma City, along with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (left MCL sprain) and Chet Holmgren (right foot Lisfranc injury).
➤ Of the four players the Thunder recently acquired from the Rockets, only David Nwaba was with the team in Denver. Nwaba, a 29-year-old wing, has played for the Lakers, Bulls, Cavaliers, Nets and Rockets. He’s under contract for $5 million this season and he has a team option for $5.4 million next season.
➤ Nwaba made his unofficial Thunder debut in the fourth quarter. He wore No. 11, which was previously worn by Theo Maledon, a player Nwaba was traded for.
➤ Sterling Brown, Marquese Chriss and Trey Burke were the other players OKC received from Houston. Brown has already been waived. Chriss and Burke are still on the roster, but neither was with the team in Denver.
➤ Jalen Williams and Jaylin Williams shared the court in the third quarter. Let the confusion commence.
➤ Two-way guard Eugene Omoruyi was used as a defense-only substitution to close the second and third quarters. He tallied a total of 44 seconds in those stints as Daigneault tipped his hand on how he might use Omoruyi.
➤ Omoruyi, built like a fullback, got an extended look in the fourth quarter. He finished with five points.
➤ New Thunder assistant Chip Engelland sat on the second row of the bench. Engelland, who specializes as a shooting coach, had to be somewhat pleased with the Thunder’s 13-of-35 (37%) 3-point shooting.
➤ Thunder rookie Ousmane Dieng hit nothing but glass on his first 3-point attempt, but he drained his second attempt. Dieng shot 1-of-6 on the night.
➤ Rookie Jalen Williams (J-Dub) was the first sub of the night. He checked in for Giddey. Williams was the primary point guard on the second unit.
➤ Speaking of the second unit, here’s what it looked like Monday night: Jalen Williams, Lindy Waters III, Wiggins, Dieng and Bazley.
➤ Waters, still on a two-way contract, shot 2-of-3 from 3-point range.
➤ Center Sacha Killeya-Jones checked in for the Thunder late in the fourth quarter. Killeya-Jones, who played college ball at Kentucky, is a training camp invitee. He’ll likely join the G League OKC Blue after the Thunder waived him Tuesday morning and signed forward Robert Woodard II.
➤ Star guard Jamal Murray started for Denver — a much-welcomed sight for the Nuggets after Murray missed all of last season with a torn ACL. Murray logged his first NBA minutes, albeit preseason minutes, in a year and a half.
➤ Oft-injured forward Michael Porter Jr. joined Murray in Denver’s starting five. Porter, a 6-foot-10 knockdown shooter, played in just nine games last season before undergoing back surgery.
➤ Nuggets coach Michael Malone only played his starters in the first half. Back-to-back MVP Nikola Jokic wasn’t too interested in the preseason affair. He attempted one shot in his 15 minutes.
