ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Sports devider Basketball devider Nuggets go 11 in a row, down Thunder in battle of reserves as playoffs approach

Nuggets go 11 in a row, down Thunder in battle of reserves as playoffs approach

Published Apr 11, 2026 01:32 pm

At A Glance

  • DENVER (AP) — Jonas Valanciunas had season highs of 23 points and 17 rebounds, and the Denver Nuggets beat the Oklahoma City Thunder, 127-107, in a battle of reserves Friday night, April 10.
Denver Nuggets center Jonas Valančiūnas, left, drives to the rim as Oklahoma City Thunder center Branden Carlson defends in the first half of an NBA basketball game Friday, April 10, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Denver Nuggets center Jonas Valančiūnas, left, drives to the rim as Oklahoma City Thunder center Branden Carlson defends in the first half of an NBA basketball game Friday, April 10, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
DENVER (AP) — Jonas Valanciunas had season highs of 23 points and 17 rebounds, and the Denver Nuggets beat the Oklahoma City Thunder, 127-107, in a battle of reserves Friday night, April 10.
Denver (53-28) won its 11th straight game to secure at least the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference. Julian Strawther finished with 22 points and David Roddy had a season-high 21 points.
The Nuggets sat their entire starting lineup despite battling for home-court advantage in the first round. A 21-5 run to open the fourth quarter gave them the win they needed and kept them in position for the No. 3 seed. Denver entered with a one-game lead over the Los Angeles Lakers, who were hosting Phoenix.
The Nuggets, who finish the season at San Antonio on Sunday night, prioritized rest over seeding.
“I think you just have to play it out with decisions that are best for your team,” coach David Adelman said before the game. “And we feel like tonight, this is the best decision.”
Oklahoma City clinched the top seed overall Wednesday night and opted to rest most of its starting lineup. Lu Dort was the only starter who played for the Thunder and finished with five points. Coach Mark Daigneault said Dort needs to play at least 20 minutes in each of the final two games to qualify for season awards.
Daigneault called timeout early in the third quarter when Dort hit the 20-minute mark.
Branden Carlson led the Thunder with 23 points.
Using just an eight-man rotation, the Thunder closed a nine-point deficit to 87-85 late in the third. Zeke Nnaji then hit a corner 3-pointer for Denver to spark a 17-0 run.
Meanwhile, Jalen Brunson scored 29 points, Karl-Anthony Towns finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds, and the New York Knicks clinched the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference with their 13th consecutive victory over the Toronto Raptors, 112-95.
The Knicks improved to 53-28 with the victory in what could be a preview of a first-round playoff series. New York lost its chance to climb to No. 2 when Boston beat the lottery-bound New Orleans Pelicans, while Toronto (45-36) is currently sixth in the East after having its two-game winning streak snapped.
Brunson shot 12 for 18 from the field while Towns was just as effective, shooting 8 for 12 for the Knicks, who extended their winning streak to five games.
New York forward OG Anunoby injured his left ankle midway through the second quarter and did not return to the game.
Brandon Ingram scored 16 points and Ja’Kobe Walter and Scottie Barnes each had 15 for the Raptors, who have not beaten New York since Jan. 22, 2023. The Knicks won all five meetings this season, once in the NBA Cup tournament.
A night after beating the Celtics, the Knicks jumped out to a 14-3 lead with 7:11 left to play in the first quarter and led 22-21 at the end of the period.
New York outscored the Raptors 29-15 in the second to head into halftime with a 51-36 advantage.
The Raptors managed to cut the deficit to 66-57 on a dunk from Ingram with 4:19 remaining in the third quarter, but Brunson sparked a 9-0 run with a 9-foot fadeaway jumper and a 3-pointer to increase the lead to 75-57.
The Knicks outscored Toronto 58-48 in the paint.

Related Tags

New York Knicks Denver Nuggets Oklahoma City Thunder NBA
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.