OKLAHOMA CITY – Peyton Watson grew up right in front of the Thunder’s eyes.

The 22-year-old was removed from Michael Malone’s rotation in the second half of Sunday’s loss to the Western Conference leaders at Paycom Center despite Aaron Gordon exiting the game before halftime. With Gordon missing Monday’s rematch, the Nuggets coach went back to his third-year forward who boasts plenty of promise.

Watson played 24 minutes in Monday’s win, finishing with 16 points, the most he has scored in the four games since he’s returned from a sprained right knee, on just seven shots. He also blocked two shots in the span of a minute in the second quarter.

“That speaks to him and his work ethic, especially being out with injury,” Jamal Murray said. “He does so much for us. He’s so versatile. His mentality coming into today was great.”

First, the 6-foot-7 forward rejected Isaiah Joe’s driving layup at the rim. Then, Watson anticipated a Chet Holmgren fade away and turned away the 7-foot-1 Holmgren’s shot.

That was good enough to earn Watson the team’s defensive player of the game chain.

“Peyton off the bench was outstanding. He was our DPOG,” Malone said after Monday’s win.

“Yesterday was a tough game for Peyton. I just told him after I gave him the DPOG chain, it’s all about how you respond in this business. You can feel sorry for yourself. You can be mad, or you can do something about it. What Peyton did today, he showed he’s a grown-ass man.”

Of Watson’s 16 points, 12 came on 3-pointers. The Thunder paid all sorts of attention to Nikola Jokic and dared some of the team’s inconsistent shooters to beat them. Watson rose to the occasion, draining all four of his attempts from deep. Three of those 3s came right in front of Oklahoma City’s bench in the second half. The last one put Denver up 14 in the final seven minutes. With each make, he had more and more to say to the Thunder.

“When you’re in front of somebody else’s bench, shooting a shot, they try to kind of distract you in the back by saying little things and what not. So, I turned around and said some choice words, but more than anything it was just me letting them know that I’m a threat in that corner,” Watson said. “That’s something that I work on. Regardless of what they might think or whatever their stats say on me or their scout says on me, I know what I work on on a night in, night out basis. I was just happy to contribute.”

Watson said there wasn’t a big conversation with Malone after he missed his only shot and failed to record a point, rebound, assist steal or block in six minutes of action in Sunday’s game. He knew he was going to get another chance Monday and was fired up to show how well he can handle adversity in a big spot even as a young professional.

“It was frustrating, but I know there’s a coach-and-player dynamic. It’s not always friend-to-friend,” Watson said.

“He wanted more out of me, and today, I gave him exactly what we needed, and we won the game.”