NBA Playoffs: Thunder Vs. Nuggets Series Preview

The second round of the NBA playoffs have already kicked off, but I believe that the best showdown of the second round will be the one starting in OKC. 

*Stats Are As of 5/5/25

G1 - (4) Nuggets (50-32) @ (1) Thunder (68-14) - 9:30 PM ET TNT/truTV

What happens when the back-to-back MVP takes on the soon-to-be MVP in the Western Conference Semifinals? Shai Gilgeous-Alexander will be leading the charge for a very young Thunder squad. However, Chet Holmgren has looked like the star of this team so far in the postseason, with him tallying a double-double in the first 2 games of the Thunder’s first round series against the Grizzlies. Holmgren averaged a league-leading 2.8 blocks per game, meaning that 39 year old head coach, Mark Daigneault, will most likely match up Holmgren on Jokić. The Nuggets are coming off of a hard-fought game 7 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers to advance to this matchup. Russell Westbrook was a big spark of the Denver bench, scoring 16 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists in just 27 minutes. The biggest story from that game, however, was Westbrook’s defense. Despite his 4 personal fouls, Westbrook had a team-high 5 steals, and was a huge problem for the Clippers offense. As usual, the Nuggets star is Nikola Jokić, who had a season for the ages. I personally believe that if the Thunder didn’t have as good of a season as they did, Jokić would win the MVP award for the 3rd straight season. He is the only 3rd person to average a triple-double in the regular season, joining Oscar Robertson and Russell Westbrook as the only players to accomplish that. Also, on March 7th, 2025, Jokić made more history. He was the first NBA player to record a 30/20/20 triple double. He had 31 points, 21 rebounds and a career-record 22 assists. The 22 assists were the most ever by a center in an NBA game. I think that the Oklahoma City Thunder will take Game 1 at Paycom Center. However, I think that Jokić and the Nuggets playoff experience will aid them in this series, ultimately giving them a hard fought, 7 game series win. 

Game 1 Score Prediction:

Nuggets 107 Thunder 114

Series Prediction:

Nuggets 4 Thunder 3