- Oklahoma City Thunder (64-16, 1st in the West) vs. Denver Nuggets (52-28, 3rd in the West)
- When: Friday, 10 April 2026 at 8:00pm CST
- Where: Ball Arena in Denver, CO
- TV: FDSN-OK
- Offensive Rating: DEN: 121.1 (1st) / OKC: 117.9 (7th)
- Defensive Rating: DEN: 116.2 (21st) / OKC: 105.9 (1st)
- Net Rating: DEN: 4.9 (8th) / OKC: 12.0 (1st)
- Current Streaks: DEN: Winners of 10 straight / OKC: Winners of 7 straight
The Tip-Off
Dictating terms. It’s such a great position to be in for the final two games of the season. With home-court advantage throughout the playoffs wrapped up after Game 80, the Thunder are now in position to do whatever they want for these last two games of the season. And so, they will. Entering tonight’s game against Denver, the Thunder have chosen to sit most of their rotational pieces in order to, not only protect their health, but also to put Denver in position to stay in the 3rd seed of the Western Conference and keep them on San Antonio’s side of the bracket. It is a right afforded to those who compete the entire season and have the depth to weather fatigue and injuries.
This is the four and final meeting of the regular season between these Northwest Division rivals. The Thunder have won the first three meetings, but the last two games have been games that have gone down to the wire.
Betting Info, presented by FanDuel
- Line: OKC +11.5
- O/U: 231.5
Injury Report
OKC
- Alex Caruso – OUT (rest)
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander – OUT (oblique injury management)
- Isaiah Hartenstein – OUT (calf injury management)
- Chet Holmgren – OUT (back)
- Isaiah Joe – OUT (knee)
- Ajay Mitchell – OUT (ankle injury management)
- Thomas Sorber – OFS (knee/ACL)
- Cason Wallace – OUT (toe)
- Jalen Williams – OUT (hamstring injury management)
- Jaylin Williams – OUT (Achilles tendinitis)
DEN
- Aaron Gordon – Questionable (hamstring injury management)
- Christian Braun – Questionable (ankle)
- Cam Johnson – Questionable (rest)
- Nikola Jokic – Questionable (wrist injury management)
- Spencer Jones – OUT (hamstring)
- Jamal Murray – Questionable (shoulder)
- Peyton Watson – OUT (hamstring)
Three Big Things
- Health Above All – While the majority of the Thunder’s rotation is resting, it is important that everyone on the team make it out of the regular season as unscathed as possible. Lu Dort is playing in this game in order to meet the 65-game rule for the possibility of making one of the All-Defense Teams. Jared McCain and Aaron Wiggins have played important rotational minutes this season and could be called upon when the postseason starts. The Thunder have finally gotten as healthy as they’ve been all season and the hope is that the injury report remains clean heading into the postseason.
- Speed Them Up – About the only way the Thunder can win this game is in muddying it up and getting out in transition. Denver is 19th in the league in defending Fast Break Points, allowing 15.5 per game. In addition, they are 20th in the league in Pace. If the Thunder can turn them over and make this game a track meet, that could be one way to make this game interesting.
- Nikola….Topic – I’m really excited to see the Thunder break off the shackles on Topic and allow him to play free in these last two games. Give him 40 minutes per game and get him prepared to compete for rotational minutes next season. Topic played in 13 G-League games this season and after a few games to get his body acclimated, Topic averaged 30.6 minutes per game in the last 7 games of the G-League season.