Nuggets vs. Thunder Preview
By Eric Meyer
Nov 18, 2014; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Reggie Jackson (15) dribbles the ball while defended by Utah Jazz guard Trey Burke (3) during the first half at EnergySolutions Arena. Mandatory Credit: Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports
The Nuggets come off their best win of the young season, a 106-97 victory over the Lebron James led Cavaliers and now have the Kevin Durantless Oklahoma City Thunder on the docket tonight with a game at 7:00 P.M. at Pepsi Center.
The Nuggets are looking to get their first 2 game winning streak of the year against a very undermanned Thunder team that comes into the game with a much less than stellar 3-9 record to go against Denver’s 3-7 mark. The Thunder, without the aforementioned Durant and his sidekick and partner in crime, Russell Westbrook, are led by Denver native Reggie Jackson (No not the baseball player) who has come into his own this year and is averaging 20.2 points, 7.6 assists and 4.2 rebounds per game to pace the Thunder attack. With no Westbrook and Durant the Thunder have struggled mightily in the early season as they are a dismal 1-6 on the road thus far but the Nuggets are only 1-3 at home so something has got to give tonight.
The Nuggets will have to keep the pace, intensity and energy they played with on Monday against the Cavs and they should be able to come away with a nice home win tonight. Look for the Ty Lawson/Reggie Jackson matchup to be one of the better ones on the floor tonight. Another matchup to watch will be the Nuggets “Bigs” against Serge Ibaka and Kendrick Perkins in the middle of the action for the Thunder. I also look for Arron Afflalo to continue his resurgence and put up some good scoring numbers tonight for the Nuggets.
It has been tough to pick the Nuggets in any of the games this season, but I feel good about this one and give you a Nuggets win over the Thunder by a 111-96 score as they win going away to get to 4-7 and have their first 2 game winning streak on the season.
It’s Nuggets vs. Thunder. Let’s go!