Oklahoma City and Denver were on a collision course to meet in the Western Conference finals last spring, but neither team made it out of the second round.
It was a disappointing end for teams with championship aspirations, but that’s in the past. Both squads are now focused on their respective 2024-25 campaigns, which begin when the Nuggets host the Thunder on Thursday night.
Oklahoma City was the surprise No. 1 seed in the West last year, a spot it earned when Denver blew a 23-point lead at San Antonio in the 81st game to slip to No. 2. The Thunder then swept New Orleans before falling to eventual West champion Dallas in six games.
Both teams are again expected to challenge for the top seed in the conference – with a few changes to each roster.
Oklahoma City traded for guard Alex Caruso and signed center Isaiah Hartenstein as a free agent to add some depth in the frontcourt. However, Hartenstein will miss at least a month with a broken bone in his left hand he sustained during a preseason game on Oct. 15.
Hartenstein’s absence will leave Chet Holmgren to guard three-time MVP Nikola Jokic on Thursday. The lanky 7-foot-1 power forward knows he can’t defend the Nuggets’ 6-foot-11, 284-pound star alone.
“It’s not a ‘me’ preparing thing,” Holmgren said of facing Jokic. “It’s more of a ‘we’ preparing thing. He’s a really good player and there is no guarding him. There is no one on one matchup for him. You guard him with a whole team.”
The Thunder boast of the youngest and perhaps most talented teams in the NBA. Led by guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, 26, and Holmgren, 22, Oklahoma City won 57 games last year and went 3-1 against Denver.
The Thunder will face a different Nuggets starting lineup on Thursday.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope signed with Orlando after last season’s second-round loss to Minnesota, and bench players Reggie Jackson and Justin Holiday are also gone.
Denver acquired No. 22 overall pick DaRon Holmes II from the Phoenix Suns on draft night, but the forward tore his Achilles and will miss the season. The Nuggets pivoted by signing Dario Saric as Jokic’s backup.
Denver’s most intriguing addition was signing veteran guard Russell Westbrook to a two-year, $6.8 million deal. Westbrook has been a longtime rival from his days with Oklahoma City, but he now leads the Nuggets’ second unit behind Jamal Murray, who wore down in the playoffs last spring.
Despite losing Caldwell-Pope, Denver has perhaps one of the league’s best new starters in Christian Braun. A rookie on the 2023 championship team, Braun will get first crack at starting at shooting guard, which might deprive the Nuggets some energy from the bench.
Denver hopes Westbrook will serve as the spark in place of Braun, but he might be pressed into starting for Murray, who battled some knee discomfort during the preseason.
The Nuggets’ title hopes start and end with Jokic, who is coming off his latest MVP campaign. He has also become more of a vocal leader and had concerns about the team’s preseason performance.
“The defense was not where it’s supposed to be. We couldn’t make shots. So, we played really bad and poorly the whole preseason,” he said. “Hopefully we can do something a little bit better when the (regular) season comes.”
