How the Nuggets shut down Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander entered Sunday’s matchup with the Nuggets riding two straight 30+ point performances. He went for 34 points in the Thunder’s win over the Cavs on Friday. In Oklahoma City’s season-opening win in Chicago, Gilgeous-Alexander poured in 31.

But he never found that same rhythm against Denver. A smothering Nuggets defense was the reason why.

The Nuggets held Gilgeous-Alexander to seven points on 2-16 shooting in their 128-95 blowout win over the Thunder. It’s the fewest points Gilgeous-Alexander has scored since he had seven points in a win over the Bulls on Dec. 16, 2019. Gilgeous-Alexander shot 0-9 from the floor in the first half. His two baskets came in the third quarter with the Nuggets coasting on a commanding lead.

It was a team-wide, multipronged defensive blitz from the Nuggets. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope started on Gilgeous-Alexander and took home another Defensive Player of the Game chain for his efforts (he has three DPOG chains in three games this season.) Jamal Murray was great defensively too. Peyton Watson, Christian Braun, and Reggie Jackson swarmed Gilgeous-Alexander off the bench. For a third-straight game, Denver’s defense shined.

Watson, who tallied 17 points on 8-11 shooting to go with 1 steal and 1 block in what we might look back on as his official coming-out party as a Nugget, had a number of strong defensive stands vs. Gilgeous-Alexander.

Watson is that special type of shot-blocker who you feel on almost every possession.

Watson expertly used his length and 7-foot wingspan here to force another miss.

This was a great job by Jackson of defending Gilgeous-Alexander without fouling.

Murray played a great defensive game on Sunday. He’s an underrated defender at this point in his career.

Caldwell-Pope and Murray teamed up to stop Gilgeous-Alexander at the rim here.

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The Nuggets held the Lakers to 107 points on opening night, then limited the Grizzlies to 104 Friday in Memphis. This was easily their best defensive outing of the season though. The Thunder shot just 41.1% from the floor and 6-32 (18.8%) from 3.

Denver is quickly stacking headline-worthy defensive wins against opposing star players.

• Anthony Davis vs. the Nuggets: 17 points (6-17 FGs)
• Desmond Bane vs. the Nuggets: 15 points (4-17 FGs)
• Shai Gilgeous-Alexander vs. the Nuggets: 7 points (2-16 FGs)

It’s remarkable how the Nuggets have transformed themselves into an elite defense around Nikola Jokic, who had a cool 28 points (12-16 FGs), 14 rebounds, and 5 assists vs. OKC, over the last couple of seasons.

Denver now has Caldwell-Pope, Gordon and Braun, all of whom I’d consider elite 16-game or playoff defenders. Watson can add himself to that list if he keeps on this current trajectory. That means the Nuggets will potentially enter the playoffs this season with four lockdown, game-changing defenders that they can go to versus a variety of different styles. Murray and Zeke Nnaji are quality defensive options in Denver’s rotation too.

The Nuggets have a defender to guard every different type of go-to offensive option that they could see this season and into playoffs, now including Gilgeous-Alexander.

Denver is 3-0 with an unstoppable offense and a defense that looks locked in and focused. You couldn’t have envisioned a better start to the season.