The Oklahoma City Thunder will take on the Denver Nuggets at the Pepsi Center in Denver on Friday night.
The Thunder have lost two of their last three games after dropping their last outing in New Orleans to the Pelicans while the Nuggets have just snapped a two game skid with a win over the Memphis Grizzlies.
The Oklahoma City Thunder have the opportunity to own the NBA’s best record on Friday when they take on the Nuggets in Denver. The Thunder would’ve already achieved that feat had they won last Wednesday. Instead, the Thunder shot 13-43 from behind the three point area and allowed the New Orleans Pelicans to win 118-114. The Thunder will need to shoot better from there against Denver which is second in the league in three point shooting defense.
The Thunder are one of the best defensive teams in the league this season, allowing just 105.2 points per game which is 5th best in the NBA. However, Oklahoma City has allowed an average of 114.25 points in their last four games and the defensive letup has caused them to go just 2-2 in those games. Denver is ranked 17th in the league in scoring at 110 points per game. The Thunder’s defense must sharpen up if they are to win in Mile High.
The Denver Nuggets entered Thursday’s schedule percentage points ahead of the defending champions Golden State Warriors and one half game on top of the Oklahoma City for the best record in the league. Denver, which barely missed the playoffs the last two seasons, is in a spot nobody expected them to be at any stage of the season.
The Nuggets have been able to produce victories despite playing without Will Barton since the second game of the season. Guard Gary Harris has also missed their last five games with a hip injury while forward Paul Millsap is out for 4-6 weeks with a toe injury. In sum, the Nuggets are currently playing without three starters from their opening day lineup. Despite that, they have been able to play good enough to be at their current position.
The Thunder and Nuggets have played in a total of 178 regular season games. The Thunder lead their all-time series 98-80 but the Nuggets have won five out of their last six meetings including the last three. The Nuggets won their first meeting of the season 105-98 last November 24th at the Chesapeake Energy Arena.
The Thunder are 7-3 SU in their last 10 games played Oklahoma City is 7-6 SU on the road this season. The Nuggets are 8-2 SU in their last 10 games played. Denver is 10-3 SU at home this season. Head to head, these teams are an even 5-5 in their last 10 games against each other. The Nuggets though are 3-0 SU in their last 3 meetings.
The Nuggets have defended their home floor well this season, winning 10 of 13 games SU at the Pepsi Center. But like the Thunder, they’ve only managed a split of their last four games played. Injuries are the main reason as they are playing without three starters from their opening day lineup. Denver has averaged just 103.33 points per game in their last three games and they’ve lost two of those. That just shows that they miss Harris and Millsap badly.
The Thunder enter this game having won seven out of their last 10 games overall but having lost back to back road games. However, OKC is playing at full strength right now and with two closers in Russell Westbrook and Paul George, I think the Thunder have the advantage man for man. We’re picking the Oklahoma City Thunder to beat the Denver Nuggets on 12/14/18.
The Thunder are 15-11 ATS this season and are 7-6 ATS in 13 road games played so far. The Nuggets are 16-11 ATS so far this season and Denver is 9-4 ATS in 13 home games played so far. Head to head, the Nuggets are 6-4 ATS in their last 10 meetings and 3-0 ATS in their most recent three encounters.
As stated above, we’re giving the Thunder the edge here because they are playing with a complete lineup while the Nuggets are saddled with injuries to three starters with a fourth one in leading scorer Jamal Murray considered as questionable for this game. The spread is just minimal and with the players they are missing, the Thunder should be able to cover here. Prediction: Thunder -1.5
The under is 14-12 in Oklahoma’s 26 games this season. The under has also hit in 9 out of the 13 road games played by the Thunder. The total has gone under in 16 out of the 27 games played by the Nuggets. The under is 7-6 in Denver’s 13 home games this season. Head to head, the under is 4-2 in their last six meetings.
These are two top defensive teams this season with Denver at #4 and Oklahoma City at #5 in opponents points per game allowed. Offensively, Denver has issues right now because of the injuries that they are dealing with. As for the Thunder, they went ice cold from three land in their last game against the Pelicans and with Denver having the second best three point defense in the business, the Thunder could struggle again from behind the arc. Prediction: Under 217
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