For as many starters as were missing between the Nuggets and Thunder, there were just as many All-Stars on the court. But as Jamal Murray and Chet Holmgren got to relish their first All-Star nods, joining superstars Nikola Jokic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in Los Angeles next week, Sunday’s fir st meeting between the Nuggets and Thunder this season was defined by role players — two specific role players, one on each team, that have elevated their games in a big way with key players out of the lineup for much of the year. Denver’s Peyton Watson continued his ascension with a team-high 29 points, but it was Oklahoma City’s Cason Wallace, who scored 27 points thanks to a 7-for-11 performance from 3-point range on mostly wide open looks and led the way in the Thunder’s 121-111 win over the Nuggets. “Give him credit, he stepped up like he did last year in the playoffs a few times,” Nuggets coach David Adelman said. “We just have to shore up the rotations. It wasn’t good enough tonight and that was the result of it.” Even with some serious firepower missing, the battle of the two teams with the best odds to win the NBA Finals (per DraftKings Sportsbook) felt awfully familiar to last season’s drag-out, seven-game heavyweight battle in the second round of the playoffs.  For large stretches, the Thunder overwhelmed the Nuggets with depth, elite 3-point shooting and just enough swarming defense to limit Jokic’s impact in his second game back from a 16-game absence due to a bone bruise in his knee. “We weren’t good enough,” Adelman said. “We weren’t detailed enough and I know we can be a lot better, regardless of minute restrictions and who’s back and who’s not. They have guys out as well, so give them credit.” The three-time MVP finished with 16 points, eight assists and seven rebounds with just four free throw attempts as he was outdueled by Gilgeous-Alexander, the Thunder star who beat him out for last year’s MVP award and who had a game-high 34 points on 11-for-16 shooting from the field and 11-for-13 from the free throw line to go with 13 assists. “That’s not why we lost the game, but big guys are officiated differently than small guys,” Adelman said. “It’s just the truth. Different quadrants of the court are called differently, but we have to react to that. That’s just how it is. The next game will be different. “It’s a night-to-night thing with how they’re allowed to guard (Jokic), as well. He shoots four free throws, there’s a lot of contact everywhere. Their best guy (Gilgeous-Alexander) shoots 13, so we just have to play through the contact.” But it wasn’t just Gilgeous-Alexander and Wallace who put on a show for Oklahoma City. The bench trio of Aaron Wiggins, Isaiah Joe and Jaylin Williams combined to make eight 3-pointers and that was enough to fend off a Nuggets second unit that even got solid contributions from the likes of Jonas Valanciunas, Julian Strawther and Bruce Brown.  With the win, the Thunder extended their lead at the top of the Western Conference to 5.5 games. The Nuggets slip back down to third, a half-game behind the San Antonio Spurs and six games behind OKC.  The two teams will meet three more times before the end of the regular season, with the next matchup coming on Feb. 27 at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City. “We’ll be better next time we play them,” Adelman said. ...read more read less