Neither the Denver Nuggets nor the Oklahoma City Thunder elected to put their best foot forward on Friday night. The Nuggets rested all of their starters and the Thunder rested basically everyone who plays in their rotation with the exception of Lu Dort. That made for an interesting game but the Nuggets still found plenty of production from guys like Jonas Valanciunas, Julian Strawther and local college hero David Roddy. All three of those players put up 20+ points and led a big run in the fourth quarter to put the Thunder away 127-107. The Nuggets also end up securing homecourt advantage in the first round of the playoffs with the win.

The offenses were understandably clunky on both sides as the game opened. The Nuggets were playing a lot of one on one and were able to get a small lead. Aaron Wiggins was the main catalyst on the Thunder’s side. Valanciunas bullied his way to points and kept Denver in front as the quarter progressed. The Nuggets stayed in the lead by a couple buckets past the halfway point of the first and then they started hitting some threes which grew their advantage up near double digits. Jalen Pickett had some strong minutes and the lead got past ten as the quarter winded down. The Thunder pushed back, Kenrich Williams started attacking and got some buckets. Both teams started firing away from three to close the first. When it ended Denver led 34-27.

The Nuggets kept their lead in the early going of the second quarter but OKC had started to find some rhythm on offense. After a few minutes the quarter slowed down with some officiating reviews, first for a challenge and then with Lu Dort elbowing Roddy in the face on a rebound attempt (ruled a common foul). The Thunder kept within a couple buckets until Valanciunas came back in and started dominating the glass. Unfortunately the reserves were still inevitably clunky and turnovers let OKC get back within four again when there was just over four minutes to go in the half. Strawther heated up and helped Denver to a strong close. After two quarters they led 59-51.

The Nuggets were a little sluggish coming out of the locker room but Big Val kept them in front early in the third quarter. Eventually the rest of Denver’s starting group got going as well while Branden Carlson was scoring for the Thunder. The Nuggets were still sloppy with the basketball, Wiggins and Williams were making shots for OKC and the lead started to dwindle. Tim Hardaway Jr., who had a terrible first half shooting, hit a much needed three to stop the latest Thunder run and keep Denver in front but the turnovers and Nikola Topic were making things difficult. Oklahoma City was definitely playing with more effort but the Nuggets kept getting a key bucket here or there to not fully relinquish the lead. Carlson was giving Denver problems again, including a poster jam on Zeke Nnaji. It wasn’t a strong close to the third for the Nuggets, but after three they still led 90-85.

Denver opened the fourth on a 10-0 run that was led mostly by Roddy who was shooting with confidence. After a timeout by the Thunder, Valanciunas had a big putback dunk and kept the momentum on the Nuggets side. It took until almost the seven minute mark before OKC finally hit a shot and by that time the lead was creeping up near twenty. It continued to be all Denver. Strawther (who had a couple nice steals in the game) poked the ball away from Topic and highlighted the Nuggets run with an impressive fastbreak dunk. The energy started to wane after that with the score making the game look pretty well in hand. Denver settled for jump shots and the Thunder went on a run to cut the lead back down to a dozen. David Adelman took a timeout and that got the defense refocused. Roddy hit another three and the clock started to work against OKC. Denver’s bench was able to wind it out and get some points at the free throw line to finish it off. They secure the victory, 127-107.

Final Thoughts

Got to love the effort from the less heralded guys

Valanciunas was the big star of the game and showed that he can still be a very effective player with his size and skill. Roddy was probably the best story of the night though, the Colorado State Ram alum got significant minutes in the second half and was the key to Denver’s big run to open the fourth quarter. There’s no guarantees he is on an NBA roster next season and as a two-way player he won’t be eligible to play in the playoffs so these two games are a great opportunity for him to start his audition for a spot on someone’s team next season. He definitely helped himself tonight. Other guys who have stepped up during the season but lost playing time in the rotation squeeze when the starters got healthy looked great tonight too. Pickett played a strong mid-range game and gave Denver a boost off the bench, Strawther looked like the scoring threat we know he can be. All around a really great effort from some players who haven’t got a lot of regularity in terms of playing time.

This win puts Denver in the driver seat for seeding

Shortly after the Nuggets sealed up this win, the Houston Rockets fell to the Minnesota Timberwolves. That means Houston cannot catch Denver and thus the Nuggets will have homecourt advantage in the first round. The Los Angeles Lakers, however, defeated the Phoenix Suns by double digits tonight and can still secure the three seed with a win on Sunday against the Utah Jazz coupled with a Nuggets loss to the San Antonio Spurs on the same day. The Spurs have nothing to play for so in theory Denver is in the driver’s seat in terms of who they want to see in the first round and what side of the playoff bracket they’d like to land on. Beat the Spurs, take on the Minnesota Timberwolves and avoid the Thunder until the Western Conference Finals. Lose to the Spurs and face the Houston Rockets in the first round while likely facing the Thunder in round two. I’d take option one but we’ll see where the Nuggets organization’s head is at when the injury report comes out tomorrow evening. An interesting side note to this decision is Nikola Jokic will need to play at least 15 minutes on Sunday to qualify for season awards.

Credit is due to David Adelman

I assume Denver wants to get the three seed, it makes the most sense given that T-Wolves star Anthony Edwards is fighting runner’s knee and the Nuggets would avoid a matchup with OKC until the Western Conference Finals. It was a bit of a calculated gamble tonight to sit the entire starting lineup and risk the opportunity to play for the three seed on Sunday. In the end it looks like a brilliant call. There’s no doubt the Nuggets starting group can benefit from a night off. Aaron Gordon, Cameron Johnson, Christian Braun and Jokic all missed time this season with injuries and you can still see the occasional winces or additional padding that indicate those injuries aren’t fully healed. Meanwhile, Jamal Murray’s been putting in a herculean effort leading the team when those guys haven’t been available. Denver was able to get all of their starters a night off and still ended up with a twenty point victory playing guys who have got minimal live game minutes together this year. Oh by the way, it was their eleventh straight victory. Great win all around, including from Denver’s coach.