The Oklahoma City Thunder continue to impress as they enter this nationally-televised matchup versus the Denver Nuggets. Paul George continues to demonstrate his MVP candidacy following his monster 45-point performance in the double-overtime win over the Utah Jazz last Friday night, including his game-winning floater with 0.8 seconds remaining.

Meanwhile, the Denver Nuggets continue to float under the radar as the second-best team in the Western Conference. Furthermore, Gary Harris is now back in the lineup following the All-Star break after missing seven games with a right adductor strain. The Nuggets are 20-7 since late December and are just 1.5 games behind the Golden State Warriors for the top seed in the Western Conference.

How to watch Thunder at Nuggets

  • Date: Tuesday, Feb. 26
  • Time: 10:30 p.m. ET
  • Location: Pepsi Center -- Denver, Colorado
  • Streaming: TNT, fuboTV - (free trial - NBA League Pass add-on available)
  • Live stats: GameTracker
  • Odds: Nuggets -3.0

Odds and analysis

Check Sportsline's NBA pick sheet for all your daily odds.

Storylines

Thunder: The Thunder are coming off of a three-day break following a thrilling weekend. They had perhaps their best win of the season in a double-overtime win over the Utah Jazz on Friday night only to come out sluggish and fall to the Sacramento Kings the following night on Saturday. Oklahoma City has struggled in their previous two games versus Denver this season, averaging just 98.0 points per game in their two meetings with the Nuggets -- in comparison to the 116.0 points per game they've averaged for the season.

Nuggets:  The Nuggets have won the prior two season meetings and winning this game ensures that they win the season series and would own a potential tiebreaker. This is pivotal because both teams are in the same division and just three games separate OKC and Denver -- a pretty big deal considering the Nuggets are No. 2 while the Thunder are No. 3 in the West.

Game prediction, pick

The Thunder are coming off of a tough loss versus a lower-tier opponent in the Kings and they need this game more than the Nuggets. It's going to be tough considering it's in the high altitude city of Denver, but considering the Nuggets have won four straight and the Thunder are coming off of a long layoff after a tough loss, I'll go with Oklahoma City in this one.