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DENVER – Steven Adams followed official Mark Ayotte to the other end of the court, arms outstretched. He had just been called for a charge, and he knew that in a matchup like this one – against Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets – he couldn't be wasting fouls on the offensive end. In the end, Adams' fouls wouldn't become a deciding factor in the Thunder's 121112 loss at the Pepsi Center on Tuesday. For the third straight game, the Thunder got behind early before making it close in the end. It worked in the first game out of the All-Star break, in a win over Utah. But OKC lost the next two. “I think with Jokic,” Thunder forward Paul George said the day before, “he's just so creative as a five-man. His ability to shoot, pass, dribble and then they play their offense, they run their offense through him a lot of times. It's just a tough cover. That's a guy that not only does Steven has to account for, but everybody on that floor has to account for because he is a playmaker.” The Thunder failed to do so. Jokic checked out with 23.9 seconds left in the game, after recording 36 points, nine rebounds and 10 assists. The Nuggets leading by 11, and scattered “This game's over” chants echoed though the arena. The Nuggets fans were right. On the last play of the game, Adams grabbed a steal and threw the ball to George. He missed the 3-point shot, but at that point it didn't matter. The Thunder made a late push for a comeback. In the third minute of the fourth quarter, Nerlens Noel missed his free throw, but George ripped an offensive rebound away from Torrey Craig, retreating to the corner. He passed it to Markieff Morris, but he tossed it right back. George had struggled to find his shot all night, but in moments like this he always seemed to thrive. George drained the corner 3-pointer and cut the Nuggets' lead to 95-87. Two minutes later, George Euro-stepped to the rim to narrow Denver's lead to just three points. The Nuggets called a timeout. What had seemed to be a dominant 91-78 lead at the beginning of the third quarter had quickly melted away. The Thunder would later take a brief lead. George, who finished the night with 25 points, scored just six points in the first half. He was such a non-factor scoring-wise that the game turned into a big man battle between Adams and Jokic. The Nuggets tried to tie the game with ball movement midway through the second quarter, but when that failed, the possession turned into isolation ball: Jokic against Adams. The two sturdy centers collided in the low post, and Jokic won the matchup, dropping a shot in to tie the game at 38 apiece. Two minutes later, they met in the same spot again. This time, the Nuggets had a two-point lead and Adams held his ground as Jokic fell to the court. But that wouldn't be enough to stop the Nuggets, made up of quick guards and facilitating bigs. From the floor, Jokic kicked a pass out to Jamal Murray. Murray drained a fadeaway jump shot to give the Nuggets a 46-42 lead. The Nuggets closed out the first half on a 12-3 run punctuated by a pair of Jokic 3s. It was Jermai Grant's time to surge in the third quarter, scoring 12 points to lead the Thunder with 19 in three quarters. But the Thunder defense was scattered. When the Nuggets took an 87-71 lead, they had scored on four consecutive possessions, the last three of which were 3-pointers.