Tonight at 8:00 p.m. ET the Denver Nuggets (4-5) will take on the Oklahoma City Thunder (6-3) away from the friendly confines of the Pepsi Center, and in "Loud City," otherwise known as Chesapeake Arena. Live stream the Western Conference action by clicking this link; Denver fans can catch the radio broadcast on 93.7 Mile High Sports Radio, while Thunder fans can follow along on WWLS 98.1.
Everyone knows that Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook are the engines that power the Thunder, but power forward Serge Ibaka is the piece that can restore them as legitimate title threats.
Ibaka dropped 15 points and pulled down 20 rebounds in a dominant win over Milwaukee that salvaged a three-game road jaunt. "His 15 and 20 was one of his best games," coach Scott Brooks said. "He's standing out as a guy that can get 10 rebounds a night and he's been pretty consistent. That's what makes you a very good pro, that consistency."
Ibaka's big performance was his fourth double-double in six games, prompting praise from Durant. "(Ibaka) is cleaning up everything for us, rebounding, blocking shots, making shots," Durant said. "We want him to keep playing the way he's playing. He's doing everything for us."
Defensively, the Thunder figure to be a difficult matchup, especially with JaVale McGee, Denver's top rim protector out indefinitely. Fellow big man J.J. Hickson said improving the defense is paramount to having a good season. "We just have to get better defensively as a team," Hickson said.
"The biggest thing we need to improve is the help side defense. ... It's up to us individually to take care of our matchups and to know our schemes."
Nuggets point guard Ty Lawson put up 28 points and 17 boards in his most recent game, but he will struggle to match that against Westbrook, who himself is averaging 21.7 points and 4.9 assists.
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