DENVER – A sluggish and sloppy showing from the Nuggets’ starting five snapped a six-game win streak in a 119-107 loss to the rebuilding Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday at Ball Arena.

“Just look at the box score,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “I think it speaks for itself.”

Denver’s starters – Monte Morris, Will Barton III, Aaron Gordon, Jeff Green and Nikola Jokic – combined to go 1 of 25 from 3- point range and needed Gordon’s make in the final 15 seconds to avoid getting shut out from deep. Barton, who’s two makes away from setting Denver’s franchise record for made 3-pointers, missed all nine of his attempts, while Jokic and Morris both went 0 for 4. All five of the starters lost their minutes by 21 or more points.

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“Thank goodness for our bench unit,” Malone said. “They got us back into the game in the first half. They got us back into the game in the second half. The starting unit was just not here tonight.”

The five reserves – Bones Hyland, Bryn Forbes, Austin Rivers, JaMychal Green and DeMarcus Cousins – were all in the positives.

“It’s a lot of ball movement, a lot of trusting in each other. We know each and every one of us can make a play,” Hyland said, when asked what was working for the bench.

“We all trust in each other making plays and we all trust in each other making shots.”

Jokic led the Nuggets with 22 points and 15 rebounds but recorded six of the team’s 16 turnovers. Hyland led the bench with 19 points, making 5 of 6 from 3-point range, and recorded four assists.

“Just playing freely, playing my game, doing what I do, getting teammates involved and making shots,” Hyland said. “That’s all, just getting teammates involved and bringing that energy.”

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Forbes added 18 points on 5 of 11 from deep. Rivers added nine points off the bench, while Cousins and JaMychal Green scored six apiece. Green led the reserves with 10 rebounds, while Cousins grabbed seven.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with 29 points, while Isaiah Roby scored 26 points, grabbed seven rebounds and dished out five assists. Tre Mann (13) and Darius Bazley (12) also scored in double figures for the Thunder. Oklahoma City made 50.6% of its field goal attempts and finished 16 of 29 from 3.

“That kind of defense is embarrassing,” Malone said. “The effort that was put forth tonight was embarrassing.”

Oklahoma City scored the first six points and led by as many as seven in the opening quarter before Hyland scored eight points in the final three minutes of the first, tying it at 24 to start the second.

Rivers hit a corner 3 early in the second to give Denver its first lead of the game. The Nuggets led by seven when Jokic and Gordon returned to the game in the middle of the second quarter. The Nuggets led 57-55 at halftime.

The Nuggets starters’ struggles from 3 continued in the second half, and Oklahoma City created a nine-point advantage. Hyland hit two more 3s, starting his night 4 of 4 from deep, and Forbes added a four-point play that gave the Nuggets a one-point lead.

“I think we’re starting to build some rhythm and build a connection,” Forbes said of his back-up backcourt pairing with Hyland. “Bones is a hell of a player. He played great tonight.”

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The Thunder then scored the final eight points of the third and led the rest of the way. Malone said he considered leaving the reserves in to close the game but opted against it.

“Those guys did deserve to close that game out,” Malone said. “It was a tough decision, and one if I could do over, I probably would’ve just rolled with that group.”

The Nuggets will look to start a new streak Friday against Houston, the only team below Oklahoma City in the Western Conference Standings.

“Hopefully, this is just a hiccup and it’s just like a little bump in the road and we keep going (with) what we were doing,” Forbes said. “I think there’s a lot of resilient guys here, so I’m not too worried about it.”