Jokic’s triple-double, 29 from Westbrook, Watson’s game-saving block help Nuggets deal Thunder first loss

Oklahoma City was undefeated (and atop NBC’s NBA Power Rankings). Denver entered with a bang and without Jamal Murray (concussion) and Aaron Gordon (aggravated calf).

It’s also easy to look past the injuries because the Nuggets also have Nikola Jokic — and his greatness, combined with a night where it looked like Russell Westbrook jumped in the hot tub’s time machine, led to one of the surprising upsets in the young season. Jokic had a 23/20/26 triple-double and Westbrook dropped 29, which was enough to lift the Nuggets to a 124-122 win.

The Thunder hit some big shots late and a driving Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had a chance to send the game into overtime, but Peyton Watson — playing because Gordon was out — saved the day with this block.

The Thunder fall to 7-1 and are now in a three-way tie for first in the West with the Suns and Warriors. Denver improves to 5-3, this is a big win for a team looking to keep their heads above water for the next few weeks until they get healthy.