The Denver Nuggets and the Oklahoma City Thunder will meet for the fourth and final time in the 2023-24 NBA regular season, with the Bolts leading the head-to-head series, 2-1. Will the Nuggets even things up between them and OKC? Or, will the Thunder get out of a slump by taking down the champs?

Catch this game live on Thursday, February 1, 2024 at 9:00 AM, Manila time

Away: Denver Nuggets (33-15/14-11 Away)

Projected Starting Five:

• Jamal Murray
• Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
• Michael Porter Jr.
• Aaron Gordon
• Nikola Jokic (Questionable)

After a stumble during a 122-84 loss to the New York Knicks in Gotham, the Nuggets got down to work and made sure that they’re still undefeated in games after a defeat in 2024, as they victimized two serious title contenders in a row. First, the Nuggets thumped Joel Embiid-less Philadelphia 76ers (111-105) last Sunday and then thwarted the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday (113-107). 

Jamal Murray and Jokic scored 35 and 25 points against the Bucks, respectively, with the Serbian coming up with 12 assists and 16 rebounds as well. However, it’s Denver’s defense that is perhaps the bigger reason for the team’s recent surge. The Nuggets held the Sixers and the Bucks to only an average of 106.0 points. They could be catching the Thunder at just the right time, with OKC struggling to pick up wins of late. That’s not to mention that the Nuggets have won eight of their last 10 visits to Oklahoma City while covering the spread in seven of those trips. One major thing to monitor over Denver’s side is the status of Jokic, who is labeled questionable for the Thunder game as of this writing.

Home: Oklahoma City Thunder (32-15/17-6 Home)

Projected Starting Five:

• Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Questionable)
• Josh Giddey
• Luguentz Dort (Questionable)
• Aaron Wiggins
• Chet Holmgren (Questionable)

Things are not looking so good right now for the Thunder as they are on a two-game losing skid. Concerns were rightfully concerned about Oklahoma City after its 120-104 loss to the Detroit Pistons on the road last Monday. Oklahoma City has yet to recover from that embarrassing defeat, as the Bolts suffered yet another loss on Tuesday at home to the Minnesota Timberwolves, 107-101. Thunder star  Shai Gilgeous-Alexander isn’t showing signs of slowing down on the court, having scored 68 points in those two losses. 

However, Chet Holmgren has racked up just  13 points on salty 6/20 shooting during the same stretch. Both SGA and Holmgren, though, are listed as questionable for the Nuggets game. With their top stars 50-50 to play, it can be a bit difficult to project the outlook of OKC versus the Nuggets. But for what it’s worth, the Thunder are 3-1 straight-up and 3-1 against the spread in their last four meetings wtih Denver. The Thunder are also 8-5-1 ATS in games after a loss this season.

PREDICTIONS:

Spread: The Thunder (-1.5) cover the spread.

Over/Under: The total (229.0) hits the Under.