Thunder hand Nuggets fifth-straight loss behind Westbrook's 17th triple-double

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The Ewing Theory is a hypothesis created in the mid-1990’s and brought to light by The Ringer’s Bill Simmons’ that’s centered around the notion that Patrick Ewing‘s New York Knicks teams played better without him. It’s a theory that got its name after the 1999 NBA playoffs when the Knicks won three out of four games to advance to the NBA Finals after losing Ewing to injury.

For two quarters, in the Oklahoma City Thunder’s 121-106 win over the Denver Nuggets, it looked like the Ewing Theory may be in play as Denver was without their best player, Nikola Jokic, who was suffering from flu-like symptoms, and Gary Harris, who was a late scratch with a groin injury. The Nuggets were tied with the Thunder, a playoff team, on the road, at halftime.

But, then, Russell Westbrook happened.

The Most Valuable Player candidate recorded his league-leading 17th triple-double; 32 points, 17 rebounds, and 11 assists. Westbrook achieved the triple-double with 8:07 left in the fourth quarter with the Thunder leading by ten, but wasn’t done.

Westbrook would then hit four threes on four of Oklahoma City’s next five possessions later on in the quarter to put a cap on another historical performance.

For a half, it looked like Denver would stay in the game.

Wilson Chandler, who finished with a team-high 24 points to go with seven rebounds in 32 minutes and Darrell Arthur, who started for a second consecutive game at power forward and finished in double-digits with ten points, powered the offense in the first half.

However, late in the third quarter, Jusuf Nurkic, who struggled offensively, scoring 11 points on just 5-14 shooting, went to the bench and Steven Adams made his presence known.

Adams scored four straight baskets, all in the paint while defended by Chandler and Kenneth Faried, and without Jokic, Denver had no answer.

A 9-0 Nuggets run did bring Denver to within six points, at 88-82 in the opening minutes of the fourth, but that was as close as the Nuggets ever got the to the Thunder the rest of the way.

Elsewhere for Denver, Will Barton, who started for Harris, scored 21 points on 6-11 shooting. Emmanuel Mudiay went scoreless, going 0-9 from the field with four assists and two turnovers. He was a -23 plus-minus in 26 minutes.

For the Thunder, Adams finished with 16 points on an efficient 7-10 shooting, Victor Oladipo chipped in 15 points, and Enes Kanter added 14 off the bench.

Denver’s fifth-straight loss dropped the Nuggets to 14-23 on the season. They’ve allowed their opponent to score at least 120 points in all five of those losses.

Westbrook now has 17 triple-doubles this season. The Nuggets, as a franchise, have 17 triple-doubles in the last 24 years.

What’s next

Denver’s next game is in London, on Jan. 12 where they’ll take on the Indiana Pacers. The Nuggets then return home against the Orlando Magic on Jan. 16.