The Oklahoma City Thunder and the Denver Nuggets meet on Sunday night for the first time since OKC defeated Denver in 7 games last season’s Western Conference Semifinals. Isaiah Hartenstein should be back in the starting lineup for the Thunder, and Nikola Jokic made his return to the Nuggets a couple of days ago, just in time for the top two teams in the West to do battle.
The Thunder is coming off a devastating 123-111 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves that wasn’t nearly as close as the final score shows. OKC trailed from start to finish, and every time it felt like the Thunder might rally a comeback, they couldn’t get enough stops on defense. That marked the 3rd loss in the last 4 games for the OKC. Now they take on the second-best scoring offense in the league, led by perhaps the most well-rounded offensive threat in the league. Tonight is not the night for inconsistent shooting from OKC, but even if they are hitting, the Thunder cannot try to win this one via a shootout.
Nikola Jokic made his return from injury on Friday in a 122-109 win at home against the LA Clippers, giving the Nuggets their 4th win in their last 5 games. The fact that Denver was able to survive without Jokic was impressive, and now that he’s back, they have a chance to make up some ground in the standings tonight.
Neither team is anywhere near completely healthy, but that’s the name of the game at this point in the season. Regardless, it should be a great matchup between Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s Thunder and Nikola Jokic’s Nuggets.
Game Details
Tip-Off: 8:30 PM CT
Location: Ball Arena (Denver, Colorado)
Television: NBC/Peacock
Radio: WWLS 98.1FM OKC The Sports Animal
Twitter: Follow @ZacharyLowNBA for live tweets and discussion during the game
Game Notes: Oklahoma City Thunder Official Game Notes, Denver Nuggets Official Game Notes
Projected Starters
Thunder
- PG: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
- SG: Luguentz Dort
- SF: Aaron Wiggins
- PF: Chet Holmgren
- C: Isaiah Hartenstein
Nuggets
- PG: Jamal Murray
- SG: Jalen Pickett
- SF: Peyton Watson
- PF: Spencer Jones
- C: Nikola Jokic
Injury Report
Thunder
- Alex Caruso (strained right adductor) is OUT
- Ajay Mitchell (strained abdominal) is OUT.
- Thomas Sorber (right ACL surgical recovery) is OUT.
- Nikola Topic (surgical recovery) is OUT.
- Jalen Williams (strained right hamstring) is OUT.
Nuggets
- Tamar Bates (left foot surgery) is OUT.
- Christian Braun (sprained left ankle) is DOUBTFUL.
- Aaron Gordon (strained right hamstring) is OUT.
- Cameron Johnson (right knee bone bruise) is OUT.
- Nikola Joic (left knee bone bruise) is PROBABLE.
- Curtis Jones (G League — two-way) is OUT.
- Jamal Murray (right hamstring and left hip inflammation) is PROBABLE.
Head-to-Head
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder is 30-35 against the Nuggets in the regular season (18-16 at home, 12-19 on the road) and 7-4 in the Playoffs (6-1 at home, 2-3 on the road).
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder has won the season series with the Nuggets 7 times, lost it 8 times, and tied it twice.
- The Thunder went 2-2 against the Nuggets in the regular season last year (1-1 at home, 1-1 on the road).
- OKC defeated Denver 4-3 in the Western Conference Semifinals last year (3-1 at home, 1-2 on the road).