Oklahoma City began its season with a win, and it could soon hand one of its rivals a loss to begin theirs.
On Tuesday night, the Thunder tipped off their 2026-27 season with a statement win in San Antonio. Handling the Spurs 116-104 after falling to them in the Western Conference Finals a few months ago, the Thunder responded with an emphatic victory that was much needed.
After starting the season on the road, the Thunder will be back in Paycom Center for their home opener on Thursday night. Hosting the Denver Nuggets, the Thunder will be looking to continue their success against their division rival after the squads had some classic matchups last season.
Of course, throughout those matchups, the Thunder were never at full strength. Winning the season series 3-1 despite never being fully healthy, the Thunder could truly showcase the gap between them and their 2025 second-round foe on opening week.
While being healthy certainly made a difference for the Thunder in their opening night matchup in San Antonio, this game could be a much better indicator of how Oklahoma City will typically operate at 100%, given the revenge factor on Tuesday. Over the past couple of seasons, Oklahoma City has had plenty of success while needing players to step up and fill in for injured stars and starters, but this team still has a different gear when at full strength.
Last season, the Nuggets matchups were a great example of how the Thunder powered through adversity and found success while shorthanded. Jalen Williams missed every matchup against the Nuggets, Jaylin Williams was the lone center available for one matchup and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander even had to sit out an overtime as he returned from injury.
Regardless of which issue popped up on the injury report for the Thunder, they never had a full lineup when facing Denver a season ago. Considering how tight the 2025 playoff series was between the squads, with the Nuggets forcing a Game 7, this is still a premier matchup early in the year.
With Nikola Jokic on the other side and an MVP battle sure to steal the spotlight, this game should have some extra juice. So, with a full lineup for Thursday night’s matchup, the Thunder can soon prove that they are still a tier above Denver and could send another message to the rest of the league with a 2-0 start.
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