The OKC Thunder sail into Denver to take on the Nuggets
The OKC Thunder finish their road trip against Jerami Grant and the Denver Nuggets. Gameday breaks down the match.
The OKC Thunder travel to Denver to take on the Nuggets in the last of their four-game road trip. In a little bit of a surprise, they have gone 2-1 so far, for a team that struggled on the road earlier in the season, they are starting to turn it around. The lone loss was by a single point to the Sacramento Kings
The Nuggets have been pretty good, currently holding a 15-8 record, sitting in fifth in the Western Conference. This is just two spots higher than the Thunder as Denver has lost five of their last seven games. Given the Nuggets’ current struggles there is a possibility that Jerami Grant may regret calling the Thunder a sinking ship after he left.
The Nuggets, who were second in the West last season are performing strongly on the back of their starting five. Jamal Murray is leading the scoring with 17.1 points per game. Will Barton, Gary Harris, and Paul Millsap are all good backups but it is their center, Nikola Jokic who is their barometer.
Jokic is averaging 16.2 points, 10.0 rebounds and 6.3 assists per game and when the offense is humming it is usually because Jokic is playing at his best. Stopping him is going to be crucial to ending the road trip with a 3-1 record.
The OKC Thunder are going to be able to match up well against the Nuggets. They have been utilizing their disruptive defense for the most part of their road trip, and the two games at home before that. They are an elite perimeter defensive squad with a big bloke in the middle to anchor the defense.