Rest vs. rust? Denver Nuggets Round 2 schedule sets up classic playoff narrative

The Denver Nuggets barely had time to celebrate the win after Saturday’s Game 7 outing against the Clippers before getting thrown into the second-round fire against the Oklahoma City Thunder. And the NBA’s schedule-makers certainly aren’t doing the team any favors.

While Nuggets players battled through a grueling seven-game series that pushed them to their physical and mental limits, the Thunder have been kicking back since April 26, when they casually eliminated the Memphis Grizzlies. That’s over a week of rest for OKC versus roughly 36 hours of recovery time for our battered Denver squad.

If Nikola Jokic and company want to advance to the Western Conference Finals for the third time in six seasons, they’ll need to overcome both fatigue and a hungry young Thunder team that’s been, statistically speaking, the NBA’s best team this season.

Denver Nuggets round 2 schedule: mark your calendars

Clear your schedules, Nuggets Nation. Here’s when our boys will be taking on the Thunder in what promises to be an electric second-round series:

• Game 1: Nuggets at Thunder on Monday, May 5 at 7:30 p.m. (TNT)
• Game 2: Nuggets at Thunder on Wednesday, May 7 at 7:30 p.m. (TNT)
• Game 3: Thunder at Nuggets on Friday, May 9 at 8 p.m. (ESPN)
• Game 4: Thunder at Nuggets on Sunday, May 11 at 1:30 p.m. (ABC)
• Game 5 (if necessary): Nuggets at Thunder (TBD)
• Game 6 (if necessary): Thunder at Nuggets (TBD)
• Game 7 (if necessary): Nuggets at Thunder (TBD)

The Nuggets will start on the road as the lower seed, which means securing at least one win at Paycom Center is crucial before returning to the friendly confines of Ball Arena. Given the squad’s exhaustion level after the Clippers series, stealing Game 1 would feel almost miraculous — though if there’s one team that specializes in playoff resilience, it’s our Denver Nuggets.

Round 2 MVP showdown

While the rest advantage significantly favors Oklahoma City, the Denver Nuggets’ Round 2 schedule presents basketball fans with what they’ve been craving all season: a playoff showdown between the league's top two Most Valuable Player candidates.

Jokic, the three-time MVP who somehow keeps getting better, against Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the silky-smooth Canadian who emerged as the face of the Thunder's ahead-of-schedule rebuild. This superstar matchup alone might be worth the price of admission.

Jokic played well throughout the Clippers series despite constant double and triple teams, while SGA led the league in scoring during the Thunder’s ascension to the Western Conference’s clear-cut top seed this year. Jokic might’ve produced the greatest statistical season in NBA history, becoming just the third player in NBA history to average a triple-double — and the first center. But SGA remains the odds-on favorite to win MVP.

The contrasting styles — Jokic’s methodical, surgical offensive approach versus SGA’s slithery, crafty drives to the cup — will color what’s undoubtedly one of the most captivating matchups of the entire playoffs.

What can we learn from the regular season?

If you’re searching for clues about how this series might unfold, the regular season matchups between these teams could offer some interesting insight. The Denver Nuggets’ Round 2 schedule against OKC comes on the heels of a regular season split in which both teams won two games apiece:

• Oct. 24: OKC snagged the season opener in the Mile High City, 102-87, spoiling the Nuggets’ opening night.
• Nov. 6: Our Nuggets bounced back with a nail-biting 124-122 win at home, handing OKC its first loss of the season.
• March 9: The Thunder dominated in Oklahoma, 127-103, as part of the late-season double-header.
• March 10: Denver responded immediately the following night with a 140-127 victory in the second game of the back-to-back.

That March back-to-back provided fireworks. The first game saw SGA drop a casual 40 points in a national TV showcase, whereas the second featured Jokic and Jamal Murray combining for a ridiculous 69 points. Thunder defensive specialist Lu Dort inexplicably transformed into an outside sniper that night, draining eight three-pointers in the losing effort.

The two starting groups match up relatively well, but the Thunder’s bench stands out as a potential difference-maker to me. Interim coach David Adelman used a seven-man rotation against L.A., while the Thunder played four guys — Alex Caruso, Isaiah Joe, Cason Wallace, and Aaron Wiggins — double-digit minutes off the bench in the opening round. The Thunder may also turn to backup big Jaylin Williams to throw more size on the court against Jokic.

The Thunder are deeper, but the Nuggets are more battle-tested. What does all this tell us? Nothing definitive, but it does suggest we might be in for some entertaining second-round hoops.

Nuggets-Thunder playoff history

This series will mark just the second playoff clash between these teams, with the previous meeting still leaving a bitter taste in longtime Nuggets fans’ mouths. Back in 2011, a Denver team that had recently traded Carmelo Anthony ran into the buzzsaw that was the young Thunder core of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden.

That series ended in five games, with the Thunder advancing. But Westbrook now finds himself on the Nuggets bench, ready to face his original franchise in the postseason for just the second time (his Rockets eliminated the Thunder in the 2020 bubble). Will Russ get his revenge against another former team?

Surviving the early onslaught

For Denver to steal this series, the team will need to leverage its playoff experience while finding ways to manage minutes early in the series. The Thunder have the rest advantage and home court, but they're largely playoff neophytes compared to the championship-hardened Nuggets.

Look for Adelman to get creative with his rotations in Games 1 and 2, potentially leaning more heavily on bench players like Russell Westbrook and Peyton Watson or even opening the door back up for young guys like Julian Strawther or Jalen Pickett to play and help preserve the starting group’s legs early on.

Can Denver overcome physical exhaustion? Or will the Thunder look rusty in the series’ early stages? As the old saying goes, “fatigue makes cowards of us all.” But our Nuggets have proven they’re no cowards. Champions find a way.