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Nikola Jokić went 5-for-19 in Oklahoma City, and why one bad night moves our projections so little

Jokić scored 13 on 5-for-19 and Jamal Murray 6 on 2-for-11 in Denver's 96-84 loss, which cost Jokić nothing on our board and moved Murray from 12th to 21st on points.

By · 2 min read

Denver opened its season with a 96-84 loss at Oklahoma City on Thursday, and its two stars had about as bad a night as they have had together. Nikola Jokić scored 13 points on 5-for-19 shooting, with seven rebounds and five assists in 35 minutes, and Jamal Murray scored six on 2-for-11 with ten rebounds and six turnovers in 37 minutes, according to Fox Sports' box score and the one our projections read from ESPN overnight. Aaron Gordon led Denver with 20 points, and DeMar DeRozan added 13 with five turnovers.

Ranks from our projections board and the analysts' consensus, updated nightly.

A road opener in Oklahoma City is exactly the kind of result fantasy managers overreact to, so this piece sets out how much our projections moved on it, which is deliberately not much, and why we would not act on either player's night.

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Every player in this story is on the fantasy basketball rankings and the 2026-27 projections, and the NBA depth charts show where each one stands in his team’s rotation tonight.

All stories in the NewsroomOctober 23, 2026

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