The Nuggets will travel to Oklahoma City on Friday night for one of the marquee matchups on the NBA’s calendar. The 2023 and 2025 champions, and the last two teams to win it all out of the West, the Thunder and Nuggets, are the two favorites to raise another banner this year, and their star players, Nikola Jokic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, are also the past two MVP winners and the two favorites to win the award again this season.
But one of the biggest hindrances to each player’s MVP case and each team’s ultimate success has been unfortunate injuries. Jokic, of course, hurt his knee, the worst injury of his NBA career, which caused him to miss 16 straight games in late December and January.
SGA was cruising along, leading the race, but he suffered an abdominal injury just ahead of the All-Star break and has now missed nine straight games.Â
SGA set to make his return on Friday night vs. Nuggets
But luckily, fans are in for a treat as Gilgeous-Alexander has been completely removed from the injury report and will be a full go for the first time since February 3rd. The same is true of Chet Holmgren, who has missed a few games recently as well. OKC will have both of its All-Stars in action for the first time in weeks, just in time to square off with its biggest West competitors.
Jalen Williams will miss this game, as he’s probably still a week away from being reevaluated with his hamstring injury. Ajay Mitchell also remains out with an ankle injury, but for the most part, the Thunder will be at full strength - at least as close as they’ve been in a very long time.
Nuggets still missing Gordon and Watson
For the Nuggets, they should be fairly close to full health for this one as well. Aaron Gordon and Peyton Watson will still be out with their respective hamstring injuries, but hopefully not for much longer, as David Adelman recently indicated the team should be fully healthy with about 20 games to go (they currently have 23 games remaining in the regular season).
Jamal Murray is questionable with the illness that knocked him out of Wednesday’s win over the Celtics. Spencer Jones is questionable with a shoulder injury, and Jalen Pickett is questionable with a knee issue. Julian Strawther is also listed as probable with a sprained toe.
All three of those players were in action on Wednesday and should be able to suit up on Friday night. With most of the key characters ready to take the court, NBA fans should hopefully get treated to a great game between two of the foremost title contenders in the league.