Analyst Chris Dempsey prefers OKC Thunder – Nuggets first round series

Nuggets analyst Chris Dempsey said his preferred Nuggets round one matchup is the OKC Thunder.

Wednesday, July 22nd in the Disney bubble the NBA began scrimmage games with four games launching this portion of the preparation phase of the restart. The OKC Thunder will play their first scrimmage game on Friday versus the Boston Celtics at 4:00 CT.

While the games were fun, if not a bit sloppy there was news for the Thunder even though they weren’t playing.

There’s an old adage –  – be careful what you wish for! That’s the advice we might want to extend to Chris Dempsey who is the Denver Nuggets reporter, analyst for Altitude Sports. During the fourth quarter of the Nuggets scrimmage versus the Wizards, the panel asked and pondered who would be the ideal first-round matchup.

Demsey didn’t hesitate stating “for me, it’s the OKC Thunder“.

Nuggets analyst calls Thunder easiest first-round opponent

His reasoning had some relevance but again, perhaps he’s not paying close enough attention to who this Thunder team is and how adaptable they are.

Dempsey offered up ample lockerroom motivation for the Thunder if the pairing ever comes to pass. As for his reasoning, he made three observations – one positive, one negative, and one that felt like a watered-down compliment:

• The return of Andre Roberson improves them defensively.
• They are a ‘stoppable team’
• They are ‘not an overly explosive team, although they played better after the All-Star break

Entering the restart the Nuggets are seeded third, 1.5 games back of the Clippers, 1.5 games ahead of the Jazz, 2.5 ahead of both the Thunder and Rockets, and 4.0 games ahead of the Mavericks.

Barring a complete meltdown the Nuggets should finish third but could move up to second or fall all the way to seventh. The latter situation would require a combination of the three teams below them (and specifically the Mavericks) all performing well and the Nuggets poorly.

On the season, the Nuggets record versus the teams seeded 2-7 is:

• Split games versus Clippers,  Aug 12th game will determine tiebreak winner
• Have already won the series versus Jazz, 2-0 despite the game on August 8th
• Split series with OKC Thunder, Aug. 3rd game will determine tiebreak winner
• Split season series with Rockets 2-2
• Mavericks won the series 2-1,