OKC THUNDERWIRE - Absorbing each blow, Chet Holmgren kept his defensive technique sharp. He refused to let Nikola Jokic bully him into a layup. Instead, he stuffed his under-hooked shot attempt with a textbook block.

Running down the court, Holmgren received the bounce pass from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and soared for the loud onehanded jam that echoed through the broadcast. The 22-year-old yelled in celebration.

The defense-to-offense sequence exemplified the Oklahoma City Thunder’s 102-87 win over the Denver Nuggets. It’s only one game, but OKC looked every part of the title contender it was hyped up to be throughout the offseason.

“I think both teams tonight were below the bar conditioning wise and then in the second half I think our effort really picked up,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said. “I am really impressed with everything, I thought we were really physical and flew around and were really tight in our seams.”

After falling behind early, the Thunder utilized a 21-5 run to exit the first quarter with a 31-24 lead — a surprising result after looking rusty in the opening moments. They entered halftime with a 58-51 advantage.

To start the second half, the Nuggets threatened to even the score. They cut it to as little as three points. After that though, the Thunder slammed the gas pedal. A 21-9 run gave them some breathing room. Holmgren was the face of that decisive run. They entered the fourth quarter with an 85-68 lead.

The scoring avalanche continued in the final frame. The Thunder pushed their lead to as high as 20 points. The Nuggets failed to muster any last gasps of a comeback as OKC routed Denver in front of its home crowd. The low-scoring affair flexed OKC’s suffocating defense.

The Thunder shot 43% from the field and went an ugly 8-of-36 (22.2%) from 3. They had 23 assists on 43 baskets. Four Thunder players scored double-digit points. 13 OKC players logged in playing time as garbage time ensued in the final moments.

Gilgeous-Alexander and Holmgren headlined this eye-popping win. The guard-center combo combined for 53 points. They certainly looked like an All-Star duo on both ends of the floor. Aaron Wiggins led the second unit with 15 points. He had an efficient night around the rim.

“What (Holmgren) did minute after minute with Jokic is not to be taken lightly,” Daigneault said. “It shows the growth he’s had. Offensively, I think he’s learning a blend. He’s a dynamic player that can roll, pop, play in the pocket, finish above the rim, he can play in transition, he can shoot, pass, dribble, plays in the mid-range. Learning how to get all that stuff into the game, I wasn’t pushing a bunch of buttons for him tonight. He’s just learning the system.”

Meanwhile, the Nuggets were the first victim of OKC’s stifling defense. They shot 36% from the field and went an uglier 7-of-38 (18.4%) from 3. They had 29 assists on 35 baskets. Funny enough, all five starters had double-digit points. But Denver’s lack of depth shows its ugly head in the first game. Russell Westbrook — deemed a bench hero — was a minus-24.

Jokic was limited to 16 points, 13 assists and 12 rebounds. Jamal Murray only had 12 points on 4-of-13 shooting. Aaron Gordon scored 12 points on 12 shots and Michael Porter Jr. scored 15 points on 17 shots.

The Thunder entered the season with a target on their backs. After catching the league by surprise last season, they are now the team others circle on their calendar to face off against. Game 1 of 82 proved why that’s within reason. A middling first-half turned into a second- half blowout. OKC will be a win machine that doesn’t need to be sharp to tally wins.

Without Isaiah Hartenstein and other frontcourt players, the shorthanded Thunder ran the fully healthy Nuggets out of their gym. The scary part is OKC didn’t have its A-game on the offensive end. The outside shot failed to fall. Once that happens, it’ll be a near-impossible task for most teams to keep up on the scoreboard.

“I thought it was a great effort from our team tonight,” Daigneault said. “But certainly, we need to look at a lot of things to start the improvement process. Certainly, we can’t be this team two weeks from now, two months from now. We’ve got to get better.”