Nuggets vs. Thunder: the expected Western Conference Finals matchup that we never got last season.ock The World Vs. The Thunder?

After both Denver and Oklahoma City endured disappointing second-round exits a year ago, they now meet in that same round and one of them will be one of the last four teams standing in the NBA this time around.

Will it be the 2023 champions taking one step closer to reclaiming their trophy or will the upstart Thunder reach their first conference finals since the Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook era?

Here’s everything you need to know ahead of Monday’s Game 1:

At a glance

Regular season records: Thunder 68-14, Nuggets 50-32

Seeds: Thunder No. 1, Nuggets No. 4

Denver coach: David Adelman (interim, 4-3 playoff record)

Oklahoma City coach: Mark Daigneault (5th season, 10-4 playoff record)

Denver GM: Ben Tenzer (interim)

OKC GM: Sam Presti (18th season, 12 playoff appearances, 1 NBA Finals appearance)

Regular season net rating: Thunder 12.7 (1st), Nuggets 3.8 (9th)

Offensive rating: Thunder 119.2 (3rd), Nuggets 118.9 (4th)

Defensive rating: Thunder 106.6 (1st), Nuggets 115.1 (21st)

Playoff history

The Nuggets and Thunder franchises will meet for the fifth time in the postseason in this second-round matchup, but just the second time since the latter moved to Oklahoma City. The last time these two teams met in the playoffs was in the first round in 2011, just a few months after Denver dealt Carmelo Anthony to the Knicks, ending a prominent era in the franchise’s history. That was the same year that a Durant, Westbrook and James Harden-led Thunder made it to the Western Conference Finals, ultimately losing to the eventual NBA champion Dallas Mavericks, who famously beat LeBron James in his first season with the Miami Heat.

Denver has a rich history against the previous location of the Thunder franchise as the Nuggets and Seattle Sonics played several famous postseason series before the turn of the century.

The first came in the 1978 Western Conference Finals, the year the Nuggets won their first NBA playoff series and became the first ABA team to do so after joining the league. After dispatching of the Bucks in seven games, Denver fell to Seattle in six games as the Sonics went on to fall to the then-Washington Bullets in the Finals.

The second memorable playoff meeting between the Nuggets and Sonics came in 1994 when Seattle won (what was at that time) a franchise record 63 games and were the No. 1 seed in the West. Only Mahmoud Adbul-Rauf, LaPhonso Ellis and Dikembe Mutombo had other ideas as the underdog Nuggets (who went 42-40 in the regular season) upset the Sonics in six games.

Starting lineups

Thunder

PG Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (32.7 points per game, 6.4 assists, 5 rebounds, 1.7 steals, 51.9% field goals, 37.5% 3-pointers, 89.8% free throws)

SG Lu Dort (10.1 points, 4.1 rebounds, 1.1 steals, 43.5% field goals, 41.2% 3-pointers)

SF Jalen Williams (21.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, 5.1 assists, 1.6 steals, 48.4% field goals, 36.5% 3-pointers)

PF Chet Holmgren (15 points, 8 rebounds, 2.2 blocks, 49% field goals, 37.9% 3-pointers)

C Isaiah Hartenstein (11.2 points, 10.7 rebounds, 1.1 blocks, 58.1% field goals, 67.5% free throws)

– regular season stats

Nuggets

PG Jamal Murray (21.4 points per game, 6 assists, 3.9 rebounds, 1.4 steals, 47.4% field goals, 39.3% 3-pointers, 88.6% free throws)

SG Christian Braun (15.4 points, 5.2 rebounds, 1.1 steals, 58% field goals, 39.7% 3-pointers, 82.7% free throws)

SF Michael Porter Jr. (18.2 points, 7 rebounds, 50.4% field goals, 39.5% 3-pointers)

PF Aaron Gordon (14.7 points, 4.8 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 53.1% field goals, 43.6% 3-pointers, 81% free throws)

C Nikola Jokic (29.6 points, 12.7 rebounds, 10.2 assists, 1.8 steals, 57.6% field goals, 41.7% 3-pointers)