The Oklahoma City Thunder look to continue their rise in the Northwest Division when they host the first-place Denver Nuggets on Friday night. The Nuggets took a five-game lead over the Thunder into the All-Star break, a gap that was one game wider before Denver lost 120-116 to the Los Angeles Lakers while Oklahoma City was winning 123-118 at New Orleans in their respective final games before the time off. Including Friday's showdown, the Nuggets and Thunder will meet three times over the final 27 games of the season, including twice at Oklahoma City.