There were plenty of fireworks the last time the Oklahoma City Thunder and Denver Nuggets squared off.
Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander returning after missing nine games with injury. Gilgeous-Alexander being called for an early technical foul after throwing the ball at Nuggets star Nikola Jokic. Denver’s bench receiving a technical in the third quarter. And Luguentz Dort being ejected late after a hard foul on Jokic, leading to a brief tussle that ended with Jokic and the Thunder’s Jaylin Williams picking up technical fouls.
On Monday, the teams meet for the first time since that Feb. 27 game when they clash in Oklahoma City.
The Thunder won that game 127-121 in overtime to start their current five-game winning streak.
Later, Dort told The Athletic he went “over the limit” with his hard foul on Jokic, which occurred early in the fourth quarter.
Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said it was no surprise the game was physical, especially after they met in a Western Conference semifinal last season.
“These are two teams that played each other in a seven-game series, we’re in the same division, we’ve played each other 100 times,” Daigneault said. “They know our playbook, we know their playbook. It’s just what it is. It’s going to be an imperfect game and they escalate like that sometimes.”
The game could be a milestone one for Gilgeous-Alexander, who with 20 or more points would tie Wilt Chamberlain for the most consecutive such games in NBA history with 126.
In Saturday’s 104-97 home win over Golden State, Gilgeous-Alexander hit a late 3-pointer to put the game away.
“He’s a great closer,” Daigneault said of Gilgeous-Alexander. “He’s got great confidence in those situations.
While Oklahoma City won that Feb. 27 game against Denver in overtime, Gilgeous-Alexander wasn’t on the floor in that end, as he sat out the extra period in his first game back from an abdominal injury. Gilgeous-Alexander has played at least 35 minutes in each of the last two games.
Denver has gone 2-2 since that loss to the Thunder, including Friday’s 39-point loss to the Knicks.
Nuggets coach David Adelman said “nobody really competed” in that loss to New York, though he later added that losses like that were “part of the NBA experience.”
That doesn’t figure to be the case against Oklahoma City, especially after the way their last meeting went.
The Nuggets could be without Jamal Murray, who left Friday’s loss to the Knicks with a left ankle injury after playing less than 18 minutes. He is listed as questionable.
It was a big blow to a team that was the healthiest it had been in quite a while, with Aaron Gordon playing Friday for the first time since Jan. 23.
“This has just been insane,” Adelman said. “Every time we get somebody back, I feel like that game, somebody else goes out. It has nothing to do with the game; it’s just the way it’s been.”
Regardless of whether or not Murray is able to go against the Thunder, Adelman said the plan is simple in taking on the Thunder after a loss like Friday’s.
“We just have to play a hell of a lot better,” Adelman said.
Thunder big man Chet Holmgren (flu) and guard Alex Caruso (left hip) are questionable.
