The NBA season is finally here, and the Denver Nuggets are getting ready to kick things off with a primetime game against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
For every game of the Nuggets season, I’m going to try and write a preview of sorts for what I’m watching in that night’s game. It be will a shorter preview with what are hopefully some fun insights and stats. From lineups, to quotes, to matchups, and much more.
Let’s get into it:
Denver Nuggets vs Oklahoma City Thunder
Projected Starting Lineups
Denver: Jamal Murray, Christian Braun, Michael Porter Jr., Aaron Gordon, Nikola Jokic
Oklahoma City: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Alex Caruso, Luguentz Dort, Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren
Key Bench Players
Denver: Russell Westbrook, Julian Strawther, Peyton Watson, Dario Saric
Oklahoma City: Cason Wallace, Isaiah Joe, Aaron Wiggins, Dillon Jones, Ousmane Dieng
Notable Injuries
Denver: DaRon Holmes II – OUT
Oklahoma City: Isaiah Hartenstein – OUT, Jaylin Williams – OUT, Nikola Topic – OUT, Kenrich Williams – OUT
Key for the Nuggets – Can they guard the perimeter?
When the Oklahoma City Thunder visited Denver in the preseason about a week ago, the Nuggets gave up 46 three-point attempts. That was without Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray out there, but theoretically, that should have helped Denver’s perimeter defense overall. Instead, players like Isaiah Joe took advantage of porous defense.
Can the Nuggets keep things contained this time? Getting back Peyton Watson will surely help, whose defensive impact on the Nuggets last season was tangible. Mixing him into some lineups rather than playing two traditional bigs will make the Nuggets a quicker, more responsive defensive bench unit.
How the starters guard Chet Holmgren on the perimeter with Nikola Jokic is another problem altogether. Denver’s rotations will have to be strong. Oklahoma City will be going small, so expect this game to be high scoring at the least.
Important Matchup – Jamal Murray/Michael Porter vs Lu Dort/Alex Caruso
It’s very possible that the Thunder have the best perimeter defense in the NBA. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the league in steals, Cason Wallace was awesome as a rookie, Jalen Williams is no slouch, and even Aaron Wiggins is a plus defender. That doesn’t even name the top two perimeter defenders on the team: Lu Dort and Alex Caruso.
The Thunder will play around with the matchups, but expect both Dort and Caruso to spend extended time on Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. tonight. Both are technically skilled but also exhausting to play against. Denver’s veterans will have to stay the course against a really tough matchup. Nikola Jokic will get his, and Aaron Gordon will probably benefit from the extra attention he gets. It’s on Murray and Porter to stay involved consistently, avoid turnovers, and put pressure on the Thunder from the perimeter if possible.
Number of the Day – 4
That’s the total number of 20+ point performances the Nuggets had from a bench player last year. Denver’s bench didn’t get a lot of opportunities, but they also didn’t deserve unlimited chances to score.
Perhaps this year will change things up. Between Westbrook and Saric arriving and the development of Strawther and Watson, I expect a few more scoring bursts this season from the Nuggets second unit.
Nugget who will have a good game: Aaron Gordon
While Jokic is probably the biggest beneficiary offensively from Isaiah Hartenstein not being healthy, Aaron Gordon is up there. The Thunder were one of the teams that could go with the double-big lineup against Jokic and Gordon, leaving their rim protector on Gordon consistently.
I think with Holmgren likely guarding Jokic most of the night, Aaron Gordon will benefit on cuts, offensive rebounds, and post entries against smaller players. Expect the Nuggets to go to Gordon early and often.