Stiles Points: OKC Thunder-Denver Nuggets Series Tests NBA Norms

In the NBA Playoffs, much like life, there are understood ideas that we cling to as facts to guide the perception of players, teams and attempts to predict a series.

The second round bout between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Denver Nuggets will test a pair of old adages that have been spouted around the game of basketball since the peach basket days.

Oklahoma City strolls in as the deepest roster in the NBA, a group they have leaned on to collect 68 wins in the regular season, good enough for the best record in the association. A roster that has a rolodex of rotation-caliber players to flip through that helped guide the Thunder to historic heights despite poor injury luck.

Though the OKC Thunder are the youngest team remaining in the NBA Playoffs. This is just its second ever postseason run with this collective core. That isn't a ton of battle scars gracing their baby faces.

The Denver Nuggets posted another 50-win season, one that resulted in its winningest head coach in franchise history being fired. But they have done it on the back of a shallow rotation propped up by having the best player in the world flanked by high-end starters. Denver can only comfortably play six players in its playoff rotation and are forced to play seven.

However, that was enough to outlast the LA Clippers, routing the No. 5 seed in Game 7 on Saturday in the Mile High City to punch the Nuggets ticket to Round 2.

As these two squads are set to square off, it puts a test to two different NBA theories that the collective basketball world has taken as facts.

It's a star driven league aka: Depth doesn't matter.

When the 82-game marathon ends, the NBA world gets wrapped up in star power and storylines. The long-time feeling around the league has been that if you just put four other competent guys around the best player in the world –– or your star –– that is enough to drag a team to a deep playoff run.

Oftentimes, pundits predict a series based upon who has the top player and split hairs between the two sides' No. 2 and 3 options. Disregarding depth as an 82-game luxury but not a 16-win worry come playoff time, as rotations typically shrink.

Denver is the model of this entering the series. Their starting five can compete with anyone, propped up by Nikola Jokic, but they lack the depth to breed versatility in lineup looks. They will go as far as Jokic and company's horse-powered engine can take them.

On the flip side, the Oklahoma City Thunder have a bona fide No. 1 option of their own, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who doesn't lag far behind Jokic on the best players in the world list. To complement its star, the Thunder's versatility allows them to play double-big, single big and small ball lineups. They have a bundle of point-of-attack defenders, capable shooters and a pair of youngsters in Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren capable of stepping into big nights.

That depth also allows Oklahoma City to seek out a hot-hand on any given night, regardless of who is off that night, you expect Mark Daigneault to be able to find a few role players who "have it" that night. Where as, if Denver has an off night, there is no where to truly turn.

Which becomes more important in this series? Time will tell, and the OKC Thunder will hope to buck an NBA norm in more ways than one.

Youth and Inexperience Can't Win at This Stage

As the youngest team left in the playoffs, the Thunder have only been battle-tested once in the NBA Playoffs, a year ago against Dallas. The Mavericks ousted the Thunder in six games, in which their young players did not play up to their standard. After that series, OKC went out and nabbed a pair of veterans in Isaiah Hartenstein and Alex Caruso.

Though the Thunder still lean on Holmgren and Williams, who are 23-years-old and 24-years-old respectively and being tasked with being Oklahoma City's second and third best offensive weapons. Throughout NBA history, that is a near-impossible feat in players second-ever crack at the postseason.

Games get tighter, pressure rises and shot quality gets worse. That is a tough environment for inexperienced role players to deliver in, but one that has to happen for OKC to advance.

Meanwhile, the Denver Nuggets are more than battle-tested. Its core group has already won a championship, its two reserves have an NBA resume over a decade long. That can create comfort for the underdogs in this series.

In Round 2, do the Thunder need more battle scars, or are they ready to break through now? After all, you are always inexperienced until your first time getting over the hump.

The obituary of this series has already been written, it is just about which version to publish. Either the Oklahoma City Thunder will win and a new era and way of thinking is upon us. Or Denver gets it done and we prop up these old wise tales we have held close since the beginning.

Song of the Day: Touch of Grey by Grateful Dead