Nuggets-Thunder Could Be The Series Of The Playoffs

Experts making their NBA predictions to know that one of the toughest picks to make for the first round of the playoffs is the matchup of the 4-vs-5 seeds in the Western Conference, Oklahoma City and Denver. While it’s only the first round of the postseason and things are obviously going to get more intense, this has the potential to be the best series in the entire playoffs.

These two teams saw a big overhaul to their squads, as the Nuggets pull off the move of the season by trading Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups to New York for Wilson Chandler, Danilo Gallinari and Ray Felton, and Denver has benefitted greatly from the move as they’re more of a team on both ends of the floor, instead of being “Carmelo and the rest of the guys”. The Thunder pulled the trigger on their own move, trading Jeff Green and Nenad Krstic to Boston for Kendrick Perkins and Nate Robinson, and Perkins gives Oklahoma City some size and toughness in the post, which is huge in the West. Robinson is coming back from an injury, but he has the potential to give them some scoring off the bench.

Oklahoma City has won three of four meetings against Denver this season, and both meetings since the two made their trades. The Nuggets come into the playoffs a little banged up, so that could hurt their chances, but we think they’ll push through it. What you’re going to see is two teams who love to play fast, getting up and down the floor as quickly as possible, and while they can play defense, offense is really the priority to these two. They say that the game slows down in the playoffs, but we’re willing to bet that it won’t when these two get together. The key may be home court, which Oklahoma City has. The Thunder is a very good team on the road, and they count as one of Denver’s five home losses this season, so they won’t be afraid of the altitude. You may have to risk some sleep, but Oklahoma City-Denver is worth watching.