Tip-Off: 8 PM CT
Location: Ball Arena (Denver, Colorado)
Television: Bally Sports Oklahoma
Radio: WWLS 98.1FM OKC The Sports Animal
Twitter: Follow @ZacharyLowNBA for live-tweets and discussion during the game
The Oklahoma City Thunder’s struggles continue, but the same cannot be said for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. In his three games since returning from a sprained ankle, Shai has averaged 35 points per game while shooting 61.2% from the floor. With the laundry list of injuries that the Thunder is currently dealing with, it just makes sense that SGA would step up and do what is necessary to keep OKC competitive. The Thunder will need another explosive game from Shai tonight as they travel to Colorado to take on the Denver Nuggets.
The Nuggets are the hottest team in the league right now, winners of six in a row and 8 of their last 9. If anybody understands key injuries, it’s the Nuggets, who have been missing Jamal Murray for the entirety of the season and Michael Porter Jr. for all but the first 9 games of the season. Both Murray and Porter are recovering well from their injuries and may be able to play sooner than originally thought. If that’s the case, I would consider the Nuggets to be a terrifying opponent come time for the playoffs.
The Nuggets are heavy favorites in Denver tonight, but even when the odds are stacked against the Thunder, I still expect them to make a game of it when playing on the road. 3 of the last 7 road games for OKC have been overtime wins, so the resilience that this team shows when playing away from home makes me think they can stick around against the Nuggets.
Projected Starters
Thunder
- PG: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
- SG: Tre Mann
- SF: Aleksej Pokusevski
- PF: Darius Bazley
- C: Isaiah Roby
Nuggets
- PG: Monte Morris
- SG: Will Barton
- SF: Aaron Gordon
- PF: Jeff Green
- C: Nikola Jokic
Thunder
- Luguentz Dort is OUT (strained left shoulder).
- Josh Giddey is OUT (right hip soreness).
- Ty Jerome is OUT (left hip soreness).
- Mike Muscala is OUT (right ankle soreness).
- Jeremiah Robinson-Earl is OUT (third metatarsal fracture in right foot).
- Aaron Wiggins is OUT (sprained right ankle).
- Kenrich Williams is OUT (sprained right knee).
Nuggets
- Vlatko Cancar is OUT (right foot surgery).
- Jamal Murray is OUT (left knee injury recovery).
- Zeke Nnaji is QUESTIONABLE (bilateral knee soreness).
- Michael Porter Jr. is OUT (lumbar spine surgery).
Head-to-Head
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder is 23-28 against the Nuggets (16-12 at home, 7-16 on the road).
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder has won the season series with the Nuggets 6 times and lost it 7 times.
- The Thunder went 0-3 (0-1 at home, 0-2 on the road) against the Nuggets last season.
- The Thunder is 1-1 against the Nuggets so far this season (1-1 at home, 0-0 on the road).