Charles Barkley named the only team other than OKC that can win the 2026 NBA Finals

Hall of Fame forward and NBA analyst Charles Barclay believes there are two title contenders hailing from the Western Conference — Oklahoma City Thunderand the Denver Nuggets. Despite the Thunder’s string of injuries With a starting lineup including All-Stars Jaylen Williams and Isaiah Hartenstein, Oklahoma City sat comfortably atop the standings with a league-leading 37-9 record.

Meanwhile, the Nuggets (31-15) are six games back in third place. Still, Barkley says the Thunder and Nuggets are the two teams that have separated from the packhe said, according to ESPN’s Inside The NBA.

“My opinion is that only two teams can win a championship,” Barkley said. “I look at the Denver Nuggets and the OKC Thunder as two teams that are going to split up.”

Charles Barkley believes that only the Thunder and the Nuggets can win the championship pic.twitter.com/Hlk9H4bBvF

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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 seven of their best-of-7 second-round 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 posting career averages in nearly every statistical category, including points (14.5), rebounds (5.1) and steals (1.1) per game. You can understand why Charles Barkley picks the Nuggets as Oklahoma City’s biggest threat in the Western Conference.

The Thunder will face the Nuggets for the first time this season next week.

The Thunder bounce back for a short while against the Pacers

Despite an extended injury list to open a three-game homestand at the Paycom Center, coach Mark Daigno says yes The Pacers outplayed the Thunder in the rematch of the finals on Friday. The Thunder nearly erased an 18-point deficit in a 117-114 loss. Crediting the Pacers for their high-level performance, Daigneault acknowledged that the defending champions lost a winnable game.

“They made plays. You give them credit. They made enough plays. In mitigation, the lesson is: when you’re in a deficit like that, it makes you a deficit,” Daigneault said. “It really limits your margin for error the rest of the game. That doesn’t mean you can’t come back and win. It’s a 48-minute game. It was obviously a win for us tonight.”

The Thunder will get back into the win column against the Raptors on Sunday.