Nuggets at Thunder
Russell Westbrook is back to stuffing the stat sheet in impressive fashion and his Oklahoma City Thunder have been dominant at home. The Thunder aim to pick up their eighth straight victory at Chesapeake Energy Arena when they continue a four-game homestand against the Denver Nuggets on Saturday.
Westbrook had 30 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists in Friday's 109-104 win over visiting Charlotte and he is averaging 23.3 points, 12 boards, 9.3 assists and 2.3 steals in three games since returning from an ankle injury. "Some bad plays on my part, but for the most part I closed the game out the right way," Westbrook said in an FS Oklahoma postgame interview after he helped his team fend off a charge by the Hornets. The Nuggets have rebounded from a 1-6 swoon with back-to-back victories, including Friday's 112-87 rout of the Orlando Magic at home. Trey Lyles had a season-high 22 points in only 18 minutes off the bench and Denver had its best defensive scoring effort of the season.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, Altitude 2 (Denver), FS Oklahoma
ABOUT THE NUGGETS (12-7): Head coach Michael Malone was able to limit the minutes on the front end of a back-to-back, with only two players seeing more than 30 minutes of action. Mason Plumlee joined Lyles on the bench brigade with 15 points, 11 rebounds, four assists, two blocks and two steals in 21 very productive minutes. Starting guard Gary Harris left the game early with an Achilles injury but Malone told reporters he is hoping to have him available Saturday.
ABOUT THE THUNDER (12-6): Friday marked the first game that Westbrook started alongside fellow guard Dennis Schroder, who chipped in 23 points two nights after pouring in 32 off the bench in a runaway victory at Golden State. Paul George added 19 points while making 3-of-10 3-pointers, the sixth straight time he has reached double digits in attempts from long range. The bench provided just 13 points against Charlotte but 11 of them came from rookie Deonte Burton, who had a total of 12 points in his previous seven contests.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Nuggets C Nikola Jokic has back-to-back double-doubles with rebounds and assists, but he has scored a total of only 13 points on 5-of-20 shooting in that span.
2. Schroder is 9-for-14 from beyond the arc in the last two games.
3. Denver won three of four meetings last season, and three of the matchups were decided by three points or fewer.