Nuggets out for revenge against Russell Westbrook, Thunder

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Both the Denver Nuggets and Oklahoma City Thunder have lost four of their last five and have been struggling as of late. The Thunder prevailed over the Nuggets in their last meeting behind a memorable Russell Westbrook triple-double; 36 points, 17 assists, and 11 rebounds. Here’s what to watch for as Denver looks for their first win of 2017.

Regular season game No. 37 | Denver Nuggets (14-22) vs  Oklahoma City Thunder (21-16)

Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma  | 6:00 PM MST | TV: Altitude

Slowing down the Thunder’s role players

While slowing down Westbrook would be helpful, the best way to beat the Thunder is to shut down the rest of his supporting cast. In their last meeting, the Nuggets allowed Victor Oladipo to score 26 points while Joffrey Lauvergne, Anthony Marrow, and Domantas Sabonis combined to shoot 8-9 from three-point range.

“We know Westbrook is going to get his shots up; that is just who he is,” Malone said. “You cannot allow, like last game, Sabonis hurt us from the three-point line, Joffrey hurt us from the three-point line and Morrow hurt us from the three-point line. I think you have to do a good job of guarding Steven Adams in the paint. He is so physical in the post and on the glass that we have to account for him as well.”

If the Nuggets hope to head to London with a win over the Thunder, Denver will have to find a way to limit Oklahoma City’s supporting cast. The Nuggets were also without both Danilo Gallinari and Gary Harris in their previous matchup with the Thunder. However, Denver will have to defend better then they have as of late to emerge with a victory.

Getting stops

It is not shocking news that the Nuggets have been awful on defense recently. They have given up 120 or more points in four straight games and have lacked a sense of urgency when defending regardless of who is on the floor

“Defensively right now we all have to improve,” Malone said. “The numbers are what they are. We just have to find a way to get some more stops. Be more committed and more disciplined and that is Nurk and that is everyone else for that matter. We have to be better on that end of the floor.”

Starting Darrell Arthur is a step in the right direction seeing how he excels in pick-and-roll coverage and is one of the smarter defensive players on the roster. In addition to Arthur, the Nuggets now have Chandler back with the bench unit which should alleviate the pressure of guarding the opposition’s best frontcourt player as of late. Denver has also chosen to go with Jusuf Nurkic at backup center while Kenneth Faried has been sidelined with back pain which should help anchor the defense for the bench unit.

Footnotes

Arthur is expected to start his second consecutive game at power forward but was already battling knee soreness following his first start of the year which came against the Spurs Thursday.

“That is something that for the time being that we will probably look to do,” Michael Malone said of starting Arthur. “Darrell has been playing well when called upon. He gives us defense and he gives us shooting at the same time.”

Faried got through practice on Friday in Denver and is expected to play against Oklahoma City.

“He got through all of practice,” Malone said. “So I think we wait to see how his back responds to live contact today and see how he feels after shootaround tomorrow and then we will make a game-time decision on his availability for tomorrow night.”