Hall of Fame forward and NBA analyst Charles Barkley believes there are two title contenders that hail from the Western Conference — the Oklahoma City Thunder, and the Denver Nuggets. Despite a slew of injuries to the Thunder starting lineup, including All-Star Jalen Williams and Isaiah Hartenstein, Oklahoma City has sat comfortably at the top of the standings with a league-leading 37-9 record.
Meanwhile, the Nuggets (31-15) are six games behind in third place. Still, Barkley says the Thunder and the Nuggets are two teams that have separated themselves from the pack, he said, per ESPN's Inside The NBA.
“My opinion is only two teams can win a championship,” Barkley said. “I look at the Denver Nuggets and the OKC Thunder as the two teams that'll separate themselves.”
Charles Barkley believes only the Thunder and Nuggets can win the championship pic.twitter.com/Hlq9H4bBvF
— Oh No He Didn't (@ohnohedidnt24) January 25, 2026
Without All-Star Nikola Jokic, the Nuggets are 7-3 in their last 10 games. They trail the San Antonio Spurs by half a game. The Nuggets were eliminated in Game 7 of their second-round, best-of-7 series against the Thunder last season. In an attempt to match the Thunder's depth, Denver added players such as Cameron Johnson, Tim Hardaway Jr., and Jonas Valanciunas during the offseason.
All three additions have contributed to the Nuggets' impressive season, thus far. Peyton Watson's breakout campaign couldn't have come at a better time, as the fourth-year guard is averaging career-highs in nearly every statistical category, including points (14.5), rebounds (5.1), and steals (1.1) per game. You can understand why Charles Barkley is picking the Nuggets as Oklahoma City's biggest threat in the Western Conference.
The Thunder will face the Nuggets next Sunday for the first time this season.
Thunder comeback comes up short vs. Pacers
Despite an extended list of injuries to begin a three-game home stand at the Paycom Center, coach Mark Daigneault says the Pacers outplayed the Thunder in the Finals rematch on Friday. The Thunder nearly erased an 18-point deficit in a 117-114 loss. While giving the Pacers credit for executing at a high level, Daigneault admitted that the defending champions lost a winnable game.
“They made plays. Credit them. They made enough plays. Zooming out, the lesson is: when you’re in a deficit like that, that's what a deficit does to you,” Daigneault said. “It really limits your margin for error for the rest of the game. It doesn’t mean you can’t come back and win. It's a 48-minute game. It was obviously a winnable game for us tonight.”
The Thunder will look to return to the win column against the Raptors on Sunday.
