On Saturday the Denver Nuggets put the finishing touches on their first round series against the Los Angeles Clippers with a game seven blowout…and the next day they got on an airplane to Oklahoma. Waiting for them is the Oklahoma City Thunder, the top seed in the West and a well-rested squad thanks to their first-round sweep of the Memphis Grizzlies. It’s been all aces for the Thunder this season. They finished an NBA best 68-14 on the regular season, their star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the presumptive NBA MVP and the Grizzlies looked like a mere annoyance rather than a first round playoff opponent. This series will be an absolute mountain to climb for Denver
The Essentials
Who: Denver Nuggets (0-0) at Oklahoma City Thunder (0-0)
When: 7:30PM MDT
Where: Processing payroll can make you stadium naming rights money if ya do it right…Center. Oklahoma City, OK.
How to watch/listen: Denver Stiffs sails only on ethical seas…in a yacht…called the S.S. Big Honey. TNT, TruTV, Max, Altitude Radio 92.5FM.
Rival blog: Thunderous Intentions
The Matchup
| Position | Nuggets | Clippers | Advantage |
| PG | Jamal Murray | Shai Gilgeous-Alexander | Thunder |
| SG | Christian Braun | Luguentz Dort | Even |
| SF | Michael Porter Jr. | Jalen Williams | Even |
| PF | Aaron Gordon | Chet Holmgren | Even |
| C | Nikola Jokic | Isaiah Hartenstein | Nuggets |
| Bench | Russell Westbrook, Peyton Watson, DeAndre Jordan, Jalen Pickett | Alex Caruso, Isaiah Joe, Aaron Wiggins, Cason Wallace | Thunder |
Injury report: DaRon Holmes II – out (achilles); Nikola Topic – out (knee)
The Three Things
The thing to watch for: What’s in the tank
The Nuggets are coming off a grueling seven game series that saw four games be decided by a total of thirteen points. Since that series went the full distance, Denver gets no time to rest and just rolls into the next series like it’s just the next game on the every other day schedule. The history of teams in game 1 of a series after they just won in seven in the previous round is not good. It’s understandable. The mental, emotional and physical toll a seven-game series takes is immense. On the other side though. OKC has had a week off, so they are coming into the game cold while the Nuggets are right in the thick of their day-to-day routine. I expect Denver to lose this game, but if they can catch OKC off guard then all they have to done is hang around late and try to steal one.
The thing to remember: these teams split the season series
Denver and OKC went 2-2 in the regular season against one another but there’s important context to consider. The teams first saw each other on opening night, it was a 102-87 blowout by OKC on Denver’s homecourt. The Nuggets then won about two weeks later sans Aaron Gordon in a 124-122 thriller. Finally, both teams got a double-digit win in a B2B in March that they split. Ironically, the Nuggets victory once again came without Gordon. I don’t think the key to victory is playing without AG here but it’s important to note that unlike the Clippers series, for the most part these two teams have been healthy when facing each other with Denver being at a disadvantage on the injury front slightly. The Thunder look like world beaters right now, but they’re getting a team that accounted for 14% of their total losses this season.
The thing to bet: Under 225.5 (-105)
The Nuggets are exhausted and the Thunder are rusty. I feel like a lot of shots are going to fall short. OKC is also a fantastic defensive team while the Nuggets have gone to another gear defensively in the post season. This feels more like a 108-100 game than a 115-108 game.
