Ousmane Dieng gathered himself through shortened breaths.
Sweat was dripping from the Thunder forward’s face, but he could still see the shot clock as he glanced over to check how much time he had left. There was only about three seconds remaining in OKC’s final preseason game against Denver, which was all tied up.
But that was enough time for Dieng, who got Curtis Jones to bite on a pump fake and released a 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded. It fell through the rim, securing OKC’s 94-91 home win.
Dieng scored 13 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter. He was the driving force in a second-half comeback by the Thunder, which trailed by as many as 16 points.
Here are three more takeaways from the game:
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Chet Holmgren was the aggressor in his first and only preseason game
After missing OKC’s first five games due to shoulder soreness, Chet Holmgren only played in the first half of his team’s final preseason contest. But he made up for lost time.
Holmgren spent his 19 minutes of action attacking mismatches with drives to the rim, letting it fly from deep with confidence and roaming the paint in search of shots to swat. He finished with nine points, six rebounds, three assists, one steal and one block.
Holmgren only shot 3 for 8 from the field (1 for 4 from deep) and turned the ball over twice, but he showed a great level of aggressiveness. And after missing 50 games last regular season due in large part to a fractured hip, the 7-footer looked to be in great shape with a noticeable amount of added strength.
It was an encouraging performance for Holmgren, who has the tools to compete for his first All-Star selection and potentially an All-NBA selection this season.
Brooks Barnhizer learned and logged plenty of preseason minutes
After getting called for a defensive three-second violation late in the first quarter, Brooks Barnhizer was called over to the bench by head coach Mark Daigneault.
The conversation was quick and quiet, not loud enough for others to hear over the rumbles of the Paycom Center crowd. But it was clear enough for Daigneault to get his point across.
Barnhizer then jogged over to the paint, where he hovered right outside the white outlines. And when Zeke Nnaji barreled into the lane, Barnhizer timed the contest perfectly by meeting him at the rim and forcing a missed layup.
Barnhizer proved to be a quick learner throughout this preseason. The second-round pick (No. 44 overall) in this past year’s draft impressed with his defensive instincts, and he made improvements offensively as an opportunistic scorer who makes sound decisions with the ball.
Barnhizer averaged 9.5 points, 6.7 rebounds and two steals this preseason on 43.6% shooting from the field (50% shooting from deep). He played in all six of OKC’s games and logged a league-high total of 178 minutes.
Denver opted to rest Nikola Jokic and other key contributors
How will the revamped Nuggets look against the Thunder? We won’t know until the two teams meet in the regular season.
While OKC played all of its starters except for Jalen Williams, who’s still recovering from surgery to repair a torn ligament in his right shooting wrist, Denver opted to not give a nugget of information to its fellow title contender. It rested Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Christian Braun and Aaron Gordon.
OKC will have to wait until the regular season to see how it really stacks up against Denver, which it beat in seven games during the second round of last season’s playoffs. The Northwest Division powerhouses will face each other on Feb. 1, Feb. 27, March 9 and April 10.
Justin Martinez covers sports for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Justin? He can be reached at jmartinez@oklahoman.com or on X/Twitter at @Justintohoops. Sign up for the Thunder Sports Minute newsletter to access more NBA coverage. Support Justin’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.
Thunder vs. Rockets
TIPOFF: 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City (NBC)
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Ousmane Dieng rallies OKC Thunder past Nuggets in NBA preseason finale
