Russell Westbrook sends message to Thunder after first loss of season vs Nuggets

Wednesday night, the OKC Thunder succumbed to their first defeat of the 2024-25 NBA season, losing to the Denver Nuggets out in the Mile High City.

A hard-fought matchup from start to finish, the rival ball clubs put forth full-out energy and exciting efforts on both ends of the floor for 48 minutes of action and reminded everyone exactly why they were residents of the top two seeds in the Western Conference standings just a year ago.

Unfortunately for Oklahoma City's faithful followers, their squad fell just short at the buzzer, as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's game-tying lay-in attempt was swatted at the rim by Denver's Peyton Watson, locking in the Thunder's first loss of the year with a final score of 124-122.

Despite the fact that their undefeated label may now have vanished following Wednesday's outcome, the team's status as a top threat to take home the Larry O'Brien Trophy this year has not changed. Looking at the updated odds, they still have the second-best chance of doing so, behind only the reigning champion, Boston Celtics.

However, despite their high rank both in the NBA's title chase and, more immediately, the West standings, Thunder legend Russell Westbrook still isn't convinced they're the better team between them and the Nuggets.

At least, that's what he said during his post-game interview with Altitude TV's Vic Lombardi when discussing the "message" he and Denver sent to his former employers.

Russell Westbrook talks 'message' sent to Thunder after loss to Denver

"Right now they've got the best record but I feel like we've got a better team and tonight we showed that," Westbrook said.

While the conversation of "better team" is inherently subjective, from a box-score and provable metrics standpoint, at least as far as this past matchup is concerned, the Nuggets were, in fact, the better team on the night.

On top of the obvious that Denver scored more points, they also proved more successful in the shot-making, (cashed in on 47.2 percent from the floor and 42.1 percent from deep compared to 44.0 and 40.0 percent splits, respectively, by OKC), assists (34 to 29), and fouls (22 to 28) department.

Westbrook, himself, contributed in major ways during the contest, posting an impressive 29 points, 6 assists, 6 rebounds, and a steal on 66.7 percent shooting from the floor and 75.0 percent shooting from deep in 32 minutes played.

Still, it's hard to claim superiority over a team that's four seeds higher in their respective conference, is shattering records left and right this season, and has a higher head-to-head point differential when taking into account both matchups they've played against one another so far this season (split season series at 1-1 thus far), especially when considering neither matchup saw the Thunder at full-strength.