OKLAHOMA CITY — Peyton Watson didn’t have a view of the Thunder bench from his vantage point last Sunday. He went out of his way to get a good, long look at it Monday.
With his fourth corner 3-pointer in as many tries — three of them launched in front of OKC’s meddling sideline — Watson spun around and trash-talked his irritants, gleefully backpedaling to the end of the floor that he’s actually meant to dominate.
“Wasn’t targeted at any one person in general,” he said. “But I definitely let some stuff fly.”
Letting it fly against a deliberately compact defense enabled Watson to score 16 points off Denver’s bench, one day after he was glued to it. He clocked in for only five minutes and 52 seconds during the first game of a critical back-to-back in Oklahoma City this week — the most his playing time has been reduced since the 2024 playoffs.
His contributions were vital to the Nuggets’ 140-127 win in the second leg, which affirmed their ability to trade punches with the best of the best.
“It’s all about how you respond in this business,” coach Michael Malone said. “You can feel sorry for yourself. You can be mad. Or you can do something about it. What Peyton did today is show he’s a grown-(expletive) man.”
Watson was named Malone’s defensive player of the game. He blocked two shots and helped the Nuggets execute a mixed scheme predicated on getting the ball out of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s hands. Confronted by zones, blitzes and two-man traps at the timeline, SGA attempted only 14 shots, his third-fewest this season.
When Watson defends like this, any offensive success is gravy. He poured on a generous helping Monday with a 6-for-7 shooting night overall. He recovered from a bad turnover on his first possession by leaking out for a transition dunk on his second.
“I was fired up to play today,” Watson said. “I knew I was going to get another chance. And this is how I respond to things like this, when I’m being challenged by my coach or my team.”
Looking ahead to a challenging last portion of the schedule, Watson’s minutes against other contending teams will serve as a barometer for Malone’s confidence in his depth. The 22-year-old wing has been Denver’s seventh man most of the season, but he’s still getting back up to speed after missing all of February with a sprained knee.
In the first game at Oklahoma City, a 127-103 loss, he was a minus-10 in his limited minutes.
“It was frustrating, but I know that there’s a coach and player dynamic, (and) it’s not always friend to friend. … He wanted more out of me,” Watson said. “And today I gave him exactly what we needed, and we won the game.”
Watson is up to 37.1% from the 3-point line this season, including a resounding 48.3% from the corners, where the Nuggets will need him to space the floor and keep opponents honest. Defenses seem willing to live with his 3s despite those numbers, just as they’ve been content to let Russell Westbrook and Christian Braun shoot.
“I get happy when I see stuff like that, because I’m like, ‘Oh, they’re gonna let me shoot open all night? Cool.’ Made it easier on me,” Watson said. “… If people want to leave me open, so be it. I’ll go 4 for 4 again.”
That provided at least half the impetus for his barrage of profanity in the fourth quarter. The other fraction? Typical gamesmanship from the Thunder.
“When you’re in front of somebody else’s bench shooting a shot, they kind of distract you in the back by saying little things and whatnot,” Watson said. “So I turned around and said some choice words. But more than anything, it was just me letting them know that I’m a threat in that corner, and that’s something I work on. Regardless of what they might think or what their stats say on me or their scout says on me, I know what I work on.”
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