The Denver Nuggets look to take a second game off the Thunder in Oklahoma City tonight as they face off in Game 2 of the Western Conference Semi-Finals. The Nuggets rallied from multiple double digit deficits to take Game 1 behind a monster Nikola Jokic game and an incredible last-second three pointer from Aaron Gordon, but if they want to take this game they’ll need to find a higher gear from the start and withstand the expected angry charge from the #1 seed on their own home floor. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander isn’t going to go quietly two games in a row, but the Nuggets have been closing out tight games for years now while the Thunder have rarely faced a foe this year that concerned them. Tight games are not their specialty – one of the hazards of greatness. Will they rise to the challenged of being tested, or can Denver muster the energy and execution to deliver another body blow to OKC’s title hopes?
The Essentials
Who: Denver Nuggets (1-0) at Oklahoma City Thunder (0-1)
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
Yes, this is the same as in Game 1, but it’s an important consideration. Will Denver try to conserve energy as the more tired and injured team that already stole back home court advantage? If so, maybe they don’t expend every ounce trying to chase OKC down in this one, or to make every rotation and grab every loose rebound. I expect Jamal Murray to get hounded again by OKC as they try to force Jokic to set the offense and do everything himself, so can Mal push through the fatigue and give a more efficient scoring performance, or will some exhaustion show through for him and the team in the turnover margin? If Denver comes out spry and ready and takes care of the ball, the Thunder are in for a dogfight to the bitter end. If they come out to respond to the Thunder instead of to set the tone, it’ll be a different story. See if Denver punches first – it will say a lot about how the night goes.
The thing to remember: Adjustments start now
If a series doesn’t start til someone loses on their home court, then this series has started with a bang already. That means there are plenty of adjustments to be made on both sides. The Nuggets have to do a better job of screening to get Jamal easier looks as well as coming to the ball rather than throwing passes into traffic that turn into transition points for the Thunder. Denver has to find a way to get its shooters going and take the burden off their front court. The Thunder meanwhile will be looking to erase (or at least mitigate) the massive Game 1 advantage Denver had on the boards as well as stop fouling Jokic especially with their bigs. A two-big approach has been one of the few ways teams that don’t have Ivica Zubac have been able to slow Jokic, but OKC can’t play them together if Hartenstein and Chet each get three fouls in the first half again. They will also be looking for ways to get JWill going and to limit Denver’s offensive options with that ferocious defense they have deployed to great effect all year. It should be fun – and probably won’t look a lot like Game 1. Every game is going to be it’s own chess match, and match 2 starts tonight.
The thing to bet: MPJ over 9.5 (-110)
Look, I get it. MPJ has one arm right now thanks to his shoulder sprain and got benched down the stretch last game for defense and speed to keep Denver’s climb back into the game intact. He missed rotations and flubbed rebounds. But he cares, he’ll play through all the pain, and that is three 3s and a putback or transition bucket. The Thunder let Jokic score with their defensive plan, partly due to the foul trouble both their bigs got into early, but I doubt they’ll go with the same plan of attack in Game 2. They also got destroyed on the boards, so crashing the glass will leave kickouts open for Jokic and any other paint penetrators. MPJ will get some open looks and I expect him to give us several chances to say ,”Yeah Mike.”
