Oklahoma City Thunder (15-8, third in the Western Conference) vs. Denver Nuggets (17-9, second in the Western Conference)
Denver; Saturday, 9 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Oklahoma City visits the Denver Nuggets after Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 43 points in the Thunder's 128-123 loss to the Sacramento Kings.
The Nuggets are 12-7 against Western Conference opponents. Denver scores 114.6 points while outscoring opponents by 4.1 points per game.
The Thunder are 2-2 against the rest of their division. Oklahoma City leads the Western Conference scoring 120.5 points per game while shooting 48.9%.
The Nuggets average 11.6 made 3-pointers per game this season, 2.1 fewer makes per game than the Thunder allow (13.7). The Thunder average 12.8 made 3-pointers per game this season, 1.6 more made shots on average than the 11.2 per game the Nuggets give up.
The teams meet for the second time this season. The Nuggets won 128-95 in the last matchup on Oct. 29.
TOP PERFORMERS: Michael Porter Jr. is shooting 47.3% and averaging 16.7 points for the Nuggets. Nikola Jokic is averaging 22.8 points over the last 10 games for Denver.
Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 31 points, 5.5 rebounds, 6.4 assists and 2.7 steals for the Thunder. Chet Holmgren is averaging 16.7 points, eight rebounds and 2.8 blocks over the past 10 games for Oklahoma City.
LAST 10 GAMES: Nuggets: 7-3, averaging 119.0 points, 45.2 rebounds, 31.5 assists, 7.4 steals and 5.1 blocks per game while shooting 49.2% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 113.6 points per game.
Thunder: 6-4, averaging 123.1 points, 41.2 rebounds, 25.4 assists, 8.8 steals and 6.4 blocks per game while shooting 48.0% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 115.0 points.
INJURIES: Nuggets: Vlatko Cancar: out (knee), Kentavious Caldwell-Pope: out (concussion).
Thunder: None listed.
___
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
The Associated Press
