May 15, 2025; Denver, Colorado, USA; Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray (27) and center Nikola Jokic (15) and guard Christian Braun (0) in the fourth quarter against the Oklahoma City Thunder during game six of the second round for the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images
The Denver Nuggets head into Oklahoma City to face the Thunder in Denver’s first game of the 2026-27 season. The Thunder already opened with a Game 1 win in San Antonio 116-104 over the Spurs, but it will be OKC’s home opener. SGA had 32 points to pace the Thunder as they knocked the rust off their game, so Denver will need to come out with the right mentality on the road against a team that is already warmed up for the season. Denver has a new bench rotation, the Thunder will have a few new pieces to throw at Nikola Jokic – basketball is back! Now it’s up to the Nuggets to put the correct foot forward to open the season.
The Basics
Who: Denver Nuggets (0-0) vs Oklahoma City Thunder (1-0)
When: 7:30 PM MDT
Where: Paycom Center, Oklahoma City, OK
How to watch/listen: ESPN, Altitude Radio. Tell security you have courtside seats and then run like hell into the arena when they look at you and start laughing.
Rival Blog:Daily Thunder
Injury Report: Nuggets: Spencer Jones – questionable (hamstring), Julian Strawther – out (knee) Thunder: Otega Oweh – out (Achilles), Thomas Sorber – out (knee), Nikola Topic – out (back)
The Three Things
The thing to watch for: Can the bench find a quick rhythm?
Denver has shuffled the bench significantly from last year, with Tyus Jones returning from the handful of games he played as a reserve point guard but a lot of new faces otherwise. DeMar DeRozan is starting his 18th season but his first as a bench player, and figures to be the focal point of the Denver bench attack. Marving Bagley is Denver’s new backup center, looking to shake the curse of playing behind Nikola Jokic – which is an almost impossible task. His athleticism and ability to run pick-and-rolls with Tyus should set him up for success, however. Shooting guard Alpha Diallo has had a long career as a defensive stalwart, but it was in Europe. And Trevon Brazile will likely get minutes at forward with Spencer Jones unlikely to play, but as a rookie they would be his first in the NBA. The Nuggets are going to ask their bench to gel quickly, and will likely shuffle in a starter or two – specifically Cam Johnson to give the bench some other options at forward that provide ball-handling and scoring next to DeRozan – but opening against the relentless attack of the Thunder is going to need Tyus and DeMar to keep a steady hand on the tiller.
The thing to remember: The starters for both teams know each other very well. There will not be a lot of surprises for the star matchups. The Nuggets have faced OKC in the regular season and post-season with very much the same lineups. Both teams have healthy starting lineups so there should be some significant fireworks between two squads that have played some fierce games and series. The Thunder added 7’2 rookie center Aday Mara which they hope will give them more size against Nikola Jokic if Hartenstein gets into any foul trouble, but for the most part the surprises are going to be in how ready the Nuggets are for the season, since the Thunder already got their real game action against the Spurs. If Denver can come out of the gate fast, this should be a serious, high-energy contest. It’s title or bust for both squads, and they both know it.
Sizing up the competition in Denver’s first contest is a fun schedule highlight, but Denver will have to match that relentless Thunder energy.
The thing to bet: Jokic points + assists: Over 36.5
These early season contests are always tough to sort out. You never know who will come out on fire and who will need some time to warm up, and total points are often up to whether the bench can do their job. But Jokic looked amazing in the pre-season, with a triple-double in a preaseason game against the Chicago Bulls, and his three-point shot looks much smoother after his injury-affected second half last season. Jokic is the engine that makes Denver go, and he averaged 23.7 points, 12.7 boards and 11.7 assists a game against the Thunder last year, and 27 / 13.5 and 7.5 in his last 10 games against them. He likes to compete against them, and I expect him to score and pass his way to a great line again.
Welcome back, Nuggets basketball – let’s have a good show tonight.