Denver Nuggets (50-32, fourth in the Western Conference) vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (68-14, first in the Western Conference)
Oklahoma City; Monday, 9:30 p.m. EDT
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Thunder -9.5; over/under is 223
WESTERN CONFERENCE SECOND ROUND: Thunder host first series matchup
BOTTOM LINE: The Oklahoma City Thunder host the Denver Nuggets to begin the Western Conference second round. Oklahoma City and Denver tied the regular season series 2-2. The Nuggets won the last regular season meeting 140-127 on Tuesday, March 11 led by 35 points from Nikola Jokic, while Luguentz Dort scored 26 points for the Thunder.
The Thunder are 12-4 in division matchups. Oklahoma City has a 54-5 record in games decided by at least 10 points.
The Nuggets are 8-8 against the rest of their division. Denver is the Western Conference leader with 34.5 defensive rebounds per game led by Jokic averaging 10.0.
The Thunder are shooting 48.2% from the field this season, 1.6 percentage points higher than the 46.6% the Nuggets allow to opponents. The Nuggets average 12.0 made 3-pointers per game this season, 1.5 fewer made shots on average than the 13.5 per game the Thunder give up.
TOP PERFORMERS: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is shooting 51.9% and averaging 32.7 points for the Thunder. Isaiah Joe is averaging 2.4 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.
Michael Porter Jr. is shooting 50.4% and averaging 18.2 points for the Nuggets. Jamal Murray is averaging 2.1 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Thunder: 8-2, averaging 121.1 points, 44.1 rebounds, 25.4 assists, 9.9 steals and 5.1 blocks per game while shooting 47.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 109.6 points per game.
Nuggets: 7-3, averaging 112.1 points, 44.7 rebounds, 26.2 assists, 7.7 steals and 4.0 blocks per game while shooting 48.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 109.4 points.
INJURIES: Thunder: Ousmane Dieng: day to day (calf), Nikola Topic: out for season (acl).
Nuggets: DaRon Holmes II: out for season (achilles).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
The Associated Press
