Teams usually face an uphill climb just to play Nikola Jokić and the mile-high Denver Nuggets, but it could be the Nuggets facing an uphill battle in their second-round series against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Denver rode a stirring home crowd to a 120-101 win in Game 7 against the Los Angeles Clippers in arguably the most exciting series of the first round. The hard-fought series win earned the fourth-seeded Nuggets a date with the top-seeded Thunder, fresh off a sweep of the Memphis Grizzlies that featured one of the largest blowouts in NBA playoff history.
The Thunder finished the regular season an NBA-best 68-14, the most single-season wins in franchise history, while the Nuggets posted a 50-32 record, despite firing head coach Mike Malone with three games to go. On top of the drastically different regular season results, there’s another factor that gives the Thunder the edge in round two.
Key Factor Working Against Nikola Jokić, Nuggets
The Nuggets were one of two teams to win in seven games and will play Monday night for the fourth time in seven days. Oklahoma City, one of two teams to sweep their first-round matchup, hasn’t played in the eight days since April 26. The corresponding rest advantage could be pivotal, as Jake Shapiro of Denver Sports pointed out:
“Lu Dort, who will be a big part of this Nuggets-Thunder series has played just 118 minutes of basketball since April 8. Nikola Jokic has played 111 minutes since last Tuesday…OKC is extremely rested,” Shapiro said.
Jokić averaged 40 minutes per game in the first round, averaging a 24-point, 11.6-rebound, 10.1-assist triple-double in the process. He played 70 games during the regular season and averaged 36.7 minutes per game. Jamal Murray (67 games, 36.1 minutes per contest), Christian Braun (79, 33.9), and Michael Porter Jr. (77, 33.7) also played heavy minutes during the regular season and upped their on-court stay during the playoffs. Murray led the league with 42.1 minutes per game in round one, while new head coach David Adelman leaned on Braun for 39.4 minutes per contest.
The Thunder, by contrast, are well-rested throughout a deep roster. Only Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (34.2) and Jalen Williams (32.4) averaged more than 30 minutes per game for OKC in the regular season. It’s been more of the same in the playoffs, with Gilgeous-Alexander and Williams averaging a slightly higher workload and nine players recording at least 13 minutes per game. Denver, with a first-round series margin of -4, had just seven such players and mostly used a six-player rotation.
Dort, as Shapiro mentioned, is especially well-rested. The team’s imposing defensive stopper missed Oklahoma City’s last three games of the season and averaged 29.5 minutes per game, in line with his season average of 29.2, in the first round. Alex Caruso, acquired from Chicago in the offseason, has enabled Oklahoma City to play an elite point-of-attack defender all 48 minutes; Caruso averaged 2.3 steals per game in just 20.8 minutes on average against the Grizzlies.
Battle for MVP Secondary in Second-Round Clash
Denver will inevitably rely on more brilliance from Jokić and Murray, who led the team to a championship in 2023. The league MVP in 2021, 2022, and 2024, Jokić will lead the charge for the Nuggets against Gilgeous-Alexander, who has challenged the center for the award as OKC ascended to dominance this season. Jokić averaged a career-high 29.6 points and 10.2 assists along with 12.7 rebounds per game in the regular season.
Gilgeous-Alexander led the NBA in scoring in 2024-25 with 32.7 points per game, his third consecutive season reaching 30-point plateau. He finished second behind Jokić in the MVP vote in 2024 while being named to the All-Star and All-NBA First Team for the second time. Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 27.8 points and 6 assists per game in the first round against Memphis.
Oklahoma City hosts the opening game of the second-round series, which tips off at 9:30 p.m. on May 5.