The Nuggets are set to begin their season with a heavyweight test, and the matchup could hardly be bigger. On October 22, Denver will head to Paycom Center to face the Oklahoma City Thunder, with Nikola Jokic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander meeting as the league’s last two MVPs.
The game lands as part of NBA Opening Week, which released its schedule on Tuesday. Oklahoma City opens first against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Target Center on October 20, then turns around to host Denver two nights later.
There’s a clear edge to this one for the Nuggets, too. The Thunder took the season series from Denver last year, 3-1, giving the Nuggets an early shot at payback.
Jokic will again drive everything Denver does. He’s coming off his second straight season averaging a triple-double, putting up 27.7 points, 12.9 rebounds and a career-high 10.7 assists, along with 1.4 steals.
Even with that kind of production, the 31-year-old center finished behind Gilgeous-Alexander in the MVP race. SGA won the award for the second year in a row, while Jokic remained a three-time winner.
Denver’s roster looks largely intact around him. The Nuggets still have Jokic, Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon, Christian Braun and Cam Johnson in place. Peyton Watson’s situation remains unresolved, with the forward still in a stalemate with the front office over his extension after reportedly turning down Denver’s five-year, $70 million offer.
The bigger picture for Denver is simple: get back to the NBA Finals for the first time since the 2023 title run. That mission took a hit in April, when the Nuggets were bounced in the first round by the Timberwolves.
After that early exit, Jokic made the standard clear. He said Denver needed to improve and described the team as “far away” from being a championship team.
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