The Oklahoma City Thunder opened up the season on Tuesday with a 116-104 victory on the road against the San Antonio Spurs. Now the Thunder get to play in front of the home crowd as they host the Denver Nuggets.
The Nuggets lost Peyton Watson in the offseason when he signed with the Cleveland Cavaliers in the offseason, but they added veteran DeMar DeRozan. Aside from that, Denver didn’t do anything in the offseason to improve the roster, which is shocking considering how they lost in the first round of the playoffs last season.
Just a couple of years ago, OKC vs. Denver was considered a premium matchup between the league’s top two teams, but the landscape has shifted a bit. I wouldn’t say the rivalry is dead, as there is plenty of bad blood between guys on each roster, but it’s not quite what it once was. Still, the energy in the building should be top-notch as OKC fans are hungry to get back to the NBA Finals.
Game Details
Tip-Off: 8:30 PM CT
Location: Paycom Center (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma)
Television: NBA on NBC and 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, San Antonio Spurs Official Game Notes
Projected Starters
Thunder
- PG: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
- SG: Cason Wallace
- SF: Jalen Williams
- PF: Chet Holmgren
- C: Isaiah Hartenstein
Nuggets
- PG: Jamal Murray
- SG: Christian Braun
- SF: Cameron Johnson
- PF: Aaron Gordon
- C: Nikola Jokic
Injury Report
Thunder
- Otega Oweh (right Achilles tendon repair surgery recovery) is OUT.
- Thomas Sorber (right knee surgery) is OUT.
- Nikola Topic (lower back surgery) is OUT.
Nuggets
- Spencer Jones (bilateral hamstring injury management) is QUESTIONABLE.
- Julian Strawther (sprained left knee) is OUT.
Head-to-Head
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder are 33-36 against the Nuggets in the regular season (20-16 at home, 13-20 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 have won the season series with the Nuggets 8 times, lost it 8 times, and tied it twice.
- The Thunder went 3-1 against the Nuggets in the regular season last year (2-0 at home, 1-1 on the road).