Stiles Points: Who Should OKC Thunder Root To Face in Round 2

The waiting is the hardest part.

Oklahoma City swept the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round of the 2025 NBA Playoffs. The Thunder are the first team in the Western Conference to punch its ticket to the second round and now await the winner of the most competitive series remaining on the board.

The Denver Nuggets and LA Clippers are playing a stress-induced series that has seen a game decided in overtime and a rare buzzer-beating dunk to knot the best-of-7 set at two games each.

This series shifts back to Denver for a pivotal Game 5 on Tuesday night. Who should the Oklahoma City Thunder be hoping to see emerge from this Round 1 blood bath? Let's answer that question in this article.

Nikola Jokic, OKC Thunde — Mar 10, 2025; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (15) moves the ball as Oklahoma City Thunder center Isaiah Hartenstein (55) defends during the second half at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images | Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

The Case For the Denver Nuggets

The Oklahoma City Thunder went 2-2 against the Denver Nuggets during the regular season with a pair of lopsided wins, a narrow loss and a blowout defeat.

Oklahoma City put up over 120 points in three of the four matchups against Denver, while holding the Nuggets blow 105 points in as many tilts.

Denver has championship pedigree and a unique home court advantage given the altitude which makes it tough for teams to adjust.

The Nuggets also have the best player in the world in Nikola Jokic, whose skillset is uniquely designed to torment any defensive but specifically one that relies on crisp back-end rotations with his playmaking to take advantage of any misstep.

Though, past Jokic, the Nuggets are limited. Banged up by injuries to its shallow rotation with Michael Porter Jr. and Russell Westbrook nursing issues and inconsistent play.

Jamal Murray, Christian Braun, Aaron Gordon and the previous two mentioned are more than capable of having loud games to extend a series but a lack of consistent firepower would make it tough for Denver to overcome the Oklahoma City Thunder.

On top of on court difficulties, this series is guaranteed to go at least six games, with a tight turnover to start the next round after a physical series and entering a hostile enviorment where the Thunder are at its best and rested.

Denver is also a more familiar matchup for Oklahoma City, as the two sides played four times with two games at the end of the season that featured healthy lineups.

The lone con of this series is a big one: Throughout NBA history, whoever has the best player in the world has a great chacne of punching above its weight class. Jokic is a tough game plan but Oklahoma City has plenty of looks for him to attempt to contain him.

The benefit to Denver advancing? The Nuggets defense is far worse than the Clippers and they lack a true Shai Gilgeous-Alexander assignment and will try to limit the league's leading scorer by committee.

Kawhi Leonard, OKC Thunde — Mar 21, 2023; Los Angeles, California, USA; LA Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard (2) and Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (left) battle for the ball in the first half at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The Case for the LA Clippers

The Clippers were playing some of the best basketball in the NBA down the stretch of the NBA regular season and have leaned on its defense to limit the Nuggets.

Denver has scored over 105 points once in this series, topping out at 112 in overtime of Game 1. The Nuggets were limited to 112, 105, 83 and 101 scoring outputs. The Clippers have an elite rim protector and a plethora of point of attack defenders that take away scoring windows for matchups.

On the flip side, the Clippers offense runs through Kawhi Leonard who is playing great basketball right now with his ability to walk to his spots on the floor regardless of who is in front of him and rise up for a mid-range jumper. While the Thunder boast a better defense than the Nuggets, Leonard's size makes it difficult for even Oklahoma City's options to contain him.

LA can also dominate in the pick-and-roll with James Harden and Ivica Zubac as the dominant duo and Harden's ability to spray the ball out to the likes of Norm Powell on the perimeter if you take that duo away.

Though, with Lu Dort and the Thunder's size, no team is better equipped to take away the Clippers pick-and-roll offense than Oklahoma City thanks to their elite screen navigation, elite defensive big men and rotational discipline on the back end of plays to close out on shooters.

Leonard would be the grave concern for Oklahoma City along with the Clippers defense bringing games into the mud.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jamal Murray, OKC Thunder, Denver Nugget — Mar 10, 2025; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA;Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray (27) drives against Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) during the second quarter at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images | Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

The Decision

Denver would be the team this scribe would like to see the Oklahoma City Thunder matchup with. Avoiding the Clippers top-line defense and the matchup nightmare that is Leonard.

Neither team is a push over, with the round two series going at minimum six games regardless of who survives this first round matchup.

The storylines of the top-two MVP finishers in back-to-back seasons going at it and the experience vs. youth aspect make this matchup appealing from a narrative standpoint. Not to mention the return of Westbrook to the Paycom Center for high-leverage games.

On the court, how Oklahoma City plans to deal with Jokic would be a great chess match. On the flip side, spreading the Nuggets' defense could benefit the Thunder.

Song of the Day: California Okie by Buck Owens