Nuggets at Thunder
The Oklahoma City Thunder are in the midst of a three-game losing streak but good fortune has the reeling Denver Nuggets next on the schedule. Denver has dropped four consecutive games and lost seven straight overall contests to the Thunder entering Saturday's game in Oklahoma City.
The Thunder suffered a 118-116 loss to the Houston Rockets on Thursday despite 49 points from star guard Russell Westbrook. The superb outing represented the third-most points of Westbrook's career and he is averaging 37.3 points during Oklahoma City's skid. The Nuggets matched their longest losing streak of the season and have allowed an average of 124.5 points during the slide. "It's definitely getting frustrating," forward Wilson Chandler told reporters. "We've got to figure out some way to get out of it and it's going to be on the defensive end."
TV: 8 p.m. Altitude (Denver), FSN Oklahoma
ABOUT THE NUGGETS (14-22): Coach Michael Malone strongly criticized the veteran leadership on the squad after Tuesday's loss to the Sacramento Kings. Several of the veterans were perturbed when Malone's comments were relayed to them and Malone later apologized individually to the players and publicly for his comments. "I've talked to guys one-on-one. We have so many young players on this team -- I want to make sure our young guys are staying positive, staying in the right direction," Malone told reporters. "And we do have good leadership. (Tuesday) I was frustrated with that, but as I mentioned, that shouldn't have come out in the media. I think our locker room is tied together."
ABOUT THE THUNDER (21-16): Oklahoma City has dipped into seventh place in the Western Conference and a tough scheduling stretch follows the Denver game as nine of the next 11 contests are on the road. So it would seemingly behoove the Thunder to escape their funk and put the three-game skid in the rearview mirror but shooting guard Victor Oladipo doesn't want to hear anything about the team being in a slump. "We're gonna be alright," Oladipo told reporters. "We're gonna be just fine. We just got to keep getting better."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Nuggets dropped their last seven games in Oklahoma City.
2. Oklahoma City backup C Enes Kanter produced 15 points and 13 rebounds against Houston for his eighth double-double of the campaign.
3. Denver PF Kenneth Faried (back) missed the last three games and is questionable for Saturday's contest.