Thunderbolt: Oklahoma City will be Desperate for Payback against Denver, KEYS TO THE GAME

 

Oklahoma City will be on the road in Denver on Saturday night, going head-to-head with Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets.

This will mark the second contest of a rigorous 10-game slate the Thunder have to endure.

With its loss against the Sacramento Kings, and upcoming matchups with the Los Angeles Lakers, Minnesota Timberwolves and Boston Celtics, Oklahoma City will be battle-tested by the end of this stretch.

The Thunder will also have to face Denver again near the back end of this period, a matchup they were entirely outclassed in back in late October, where the Nuggets claimed a 33-point win.

The Thunder enter the day as 5.5-point underdogs to the Nuggets, and the total over/under is 236.5 points.

KEYS TO THE GAME:

When Oklahoma City and Denver last met inside Paycom Center at the start of the season, it wasn’t surprising to see the Nuggets come into town as the reigning NBA Champions and take a strong victory — but a 33-point loss exposed the weaknesses the Thunder truly held at the time.

Those weaknesses included a lack of physical paint presence, both defensively and on the boards, and, in this instance, a very poor and uncharacteristic shooting night from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

Now, the latter is fairly uncommon, as Gilgeous-Alexander shooting 2-of-13 from the floor for only seven points is rare as known.

But the former, that is still a prevalent issue within the Thunder’s overall success.

Oklahoma City is the worst in the league in allowed second chance points, but actually allows the seventh least points scored in the paint due to a collective defensive effort.

Though its interior defense has improved, its rebounding efforts are of the worst in the association — tied for last in defensive rebound percentage and bottom five in rebounds per game.

Either way, the Thunder will need to contain Jokic to some extent in order to have a chance at taking this game. Gilgeous-Alexander will also have to play up to his standard 31 points per night.

RECORDS: Oklahoma City Thunder (15-8) vs.Denver Nuggets (17-9)

INJURIES: Check out our live injury tracker, along with our game day injury report that will release later today.

WHEN:

Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023 at 8 PM CT

LOCATION: Ball Arena – Denver, CO TV/RADIO: Bally Sports Oklahoma, NBA League Pass, 98.1 FM The Sports Animal

FINAL WORD: Jokic and Chet Holmgren is going to be a key matchup to analyze Saturday night, as will Gilgeous-Alexander and Jamaal Murray.

And with a relatively stagnant offensive performance from the Thunder two nights prior, Oklahoma City must be dialed in order to take down a cohesive, skilled team like the Nuggets.

Oklahoma City will next take on the Memphis Grizzlies (6-17) at 7 p.m. CT on Monday, Dec. 18 inside Paycom Center.