OKC Thunder: 3 keys to victory versus the Nuggets

Limiting Jokic and Murray is key:

It’s no secret the Nuggets roll as their two stars Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray perform. If the Nuggets had a better record there would be more discussion about Jokic being among the Most Valuable Players candidates as he’s averaging a triple-double with 25 points, 11.4 rebounds, and 10.3 assists.

Notably, Jokic is also snagging 1.9 steals per game and shooting 38.6 percent from the perimeter. With Al Horford expected to miss this game it will put a ton of pressure on Isaiah Roby and the entire Thunder unit on the floor whenever the Joker is.

As noted above the Nuggets are among the best assists teams and much of that is due to the efforts of Jokic and his prowess at passing and quarterbacking plays. So, again reducing the ball movement and passing lanes begins with the defense employed on Jokic.

While Jamal Murray tends to get up for the big spotlight games this sort of falls into that category since there are only two games on the NBA schedule today which means more eyes will be on this match.

Moreover, Murray, SGA, and Luguentz Dort are very familiar with each other given they grew up all spending time with the Canadian National program. That factor will inspire Murray to put on a show. Likewise, Shai will be amped to beat him while Dort presumably will get the primary defensive task of slowing Murray.

The Thunder get a bit lucky that Michael Porter Jr. is expected to miss his tenth game as his presence opens up the court for Jokic and Muray. That said, OKC can’t sleep on Gary Harris (particularly on defense) or Will Barton who can score in bunches as TI noted in a recent article.