There’s an infamous quote from the 2008 film “The Dark Knight” that says you either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain. Throughout sports, the players and teams that win the most concurrently become disliked the most.
NFL fans preyed on the downfall of seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady. They then wished the worst for the Kansas City Chiefs’ dynasty. MLB fans can’t stand to see another player go to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The same precedent seems to have passed down to Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets.
Denver has never historically had a stand-out rival in the NBA. However, over the last couple of years, the Nuggets have formed certain tensions with teams that have given their recent matchups more weight, no matter the setting.
Nuggets vs. Oklahoma City Thunder
Once Denver failed to repeat its 2022-23 championship magic, they seemingly handed the keys of the Western Conference to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
In a series that some dubbed the fans’ NBA Finals, the Nuggets and the 68-win Thunder met in last year’s Western Conference semifinals. Denver took the eventual NBA champions to a Game 7, ultimately falling short of the upset, but in the process teed up an elevated showdown for years to come.
The first memorable game in the new rivalry took place when the skidding Nuggets traveled to Oklahoma City on Feb. 27 for a matchup with the Thunder that turned hostile.
Tensions began just three minutes in when Shai Gilgeous-Alexander drove on Jokic and threw the ball at him after drawing contact, thinking Jokic pushed him. Jokic did not engage with anybody but the officials, who assessed Gilgeous-Alexander a technical foul.
The Thunder tightly controlled the contest for three quarters, but emotions boiled over with eight minutes left in the game. Oklahoma City guard Luguentz Dort side-stepped and tripped Jokic, who fell to the ground on an in-bound play. Potentially riled up from the earlier altercation, Jokic shot up and charged at Dort for his unsportsmanlike play.
This led to a clash between the teams, with Jokic, Jaylin Williams and Christian Braun at the center.
The officials ejected Dort after deeming his play unnecessary and excessive, and issued technicals to Jokic and Williams. OKC went on to win the contest in overtime after a cold stretch of shooting and messy turnovers from Denver.
Since the seven-game series last May, the Thunder have won both regular-season matchups. This young rivalry will carry extra importance, as the teams will still face off two more times before the playoffs.
Nuggets vs. Minnesota Timberwolves
Similar to the Thunder, playoff meetings over the last couple of years have led to heightened games between the Denver Nuggets and the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Nuggets and Wolves met in consecutive years in the playoffs in 2023 and 2024. The Nuggets controlled the first series in five games, and the other was an intense seven-game series that Minnesota left victorious.
The teams have played four times this year; Denver took the season series 3-1. Two of the meetings were particularly intense this winter.
The first was on Nov. 15, when the Timberwolves grew tired of Jonas Valanciunas showcasing some extra flair when drawing contact.
The Nuggets ended up winning by 11, but it was their Christmas Day meeting that turned Anthony Edwards into the most wanted man in Denver. Over the course of this game, each team held over a 96% chance to win, thanks to Edwards and Jokic going back-and-forth, scoring a combined 29 points in overtime.
After some controversial foul calls, tensions were high in Ball Arena. Edwards swiped his hand at Jokic twice, once at the free-throw line before a Jokic free throw, and again during an in-bound pass. Edwards pointed and engaged with the officiating crew all overtime before they threw him out with just 20 seconds remaining.
As of March 9, third place through sixth place in the Western Conference are all separated by half a game. Minnesota has 40 wins, while the Nuggets, Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers all sit at 39. Since the fourth and fifth place finishers in each conference face off in a first-round playoff matchup, it’s playing out for Denver to matchup with one of those three in a seven-game series.
In any of those potential matchups, there’s earlier playoff history with Los Angeles and the aforementioned back-to-back series against Minnesota. But there’s also a possible beef burgeoning with the final new enemy.
Nuggets vs. Houston Rockets
After trading for Kevin Durant, Houston bought into the Western Conference hype this offseason and joined the heavy group of championship-caliber teams.
Houston and Denver played twice in five days earlier this year. The first, on Dec. 15, had Jokic and the Rockets’ Alperen Sengun exchanging buckets and taunts late in the game. With eight minutes left, Jokic and Durant ran into each other off a screen and got tangled up. When Durant separated and pushed Jokic in the process, he was given a technical. Denver went on to win.
Five days later, Nuggets’ bench player Bruce Brown jawed with Durant in the third quarter, the tension of which carried through the rest of the game. Tim Hardaway Jr. got involved in the fourth quarter and threw an elbow at Durant after a three-pointer, leading to a tech.
Durant and the Rockets got the last laugh that night after the refs ejected Denver’s Head Coach, David Adelman, with eight minutes left in Houston’s runaway victory.
It’s almost written in the stars that one of these rivalries will take place in the upcoming NBA Playoffs. Since their title season, Denver has lost two Game 7’s and hasn’t reached the conference finals. While on a bad stretch of the season, the Nuggets are still assembled for a deep run. Across these three rivalries, Denver has winning records against Minnesota and Houston, which sets up for their most integral part of the season.
The Nuggets face Oklahoma City on Monday, March 9, and Houston on Wednesday, March 11.
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