Story & Photos
By Michael Kinney
Oklahoma City had exactly what they wanted. Winning 68 games during the regular season guaranteed that any and all Game 7s the Thunder are involved in this postseason would be played at their house in front of their fans.
Despite facing a former NBA champion and a three-time MVP, the Thunder showed why they were considered the best team in the NBA with a 125-93 rout of the Denver Nuggets Sunday afternoon at the Paycom Center.
The victory closed out Western Conference semifinals and pushed Oklahoma City into the conference championship, where they will face Minnesota.
“It means a lot, specifically for the city. They’ve been so good all year,” Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said. “They’ve been behind us, through good, through bad. No team in the league has a home court advantage like we do. We’ve been a better team because of them.”
Gilgeous-Alexander led all scorers with 35 points on a proficient 12 of 19 shooting. Jalen Williams added 24 points, seven assists, and five rebounds.
“We had a very good progression throughout the series of like, getting shots that we wanted,” said Williams. “Sometimes they fall, sometimes they don’t, but I think defensively, we were really good, and we were able to get out in transition. That’s gives us layups and I think that’s where a lot of the points in the paint come from. Then that gives you flow, obviously, going into half-court offense. That’s where we get our confidence from – just trusting each other, trusting our process.”
Denver’s Nikola Jokic was held to 20 points and took a total of nine shot attempts. Several Oklahoma City defenders took turns guarding the three-time MVP, including guard Alex Caruso.
“He’s a player who rises to the occasion,” Gilgeous-Alexander said of Caruso. “He’s a player that understands the moment and controls what he can control, and he does that at a very high level. Nobody does that at a higher level than him that I’ve ever played with. He is always in the moment. He’s always figuring out how to change the game.”
Christian Braun chipped in with 19 points while Jamal Murray posted a quiet 13 points in the loss.
“To be honest, playing seven games against them reminded me of playing AAU,” Murray said of playing against the Thunder. “It was like an AAU tournament out there. Everybody was young, athletic, flying around.”
Despite the way the Thunder overwhelmed the Nuggets, heading into the contest, there were doubts they were ready to take that next step. After missing the opportunity to close out the series back in Denver, they had to prove they were more than up to the challenge of a critical Game 7.
However, when the contest started, it looked like the moment may have been too big for the young Thunder squad.
The Thunder trailed 21-10 right off the bat. Their defense was getting sliced apart, Aaron Gordon had an immediate impact on the boards, and Jokic was being a bully in the paint, picking up fouls on everyone.
However, after Oklahoma City settled down, they began to slowly reel in Denver. The Thunder took the lead in the second quarter and went on to lead 60-46 at halftime.
“Credit to [the guards] for making everything tough,” said Chet Holmgren. “It wasn’t just tough on Jokic to get open. It was tough on whoever was trying to pass to them too. We’re pressuring so credit to all those dudes. I just have to make sure that they know I have their back if they get beat on anything. That’s what kind of gives us the ability to pressure up.”
Williams helped lead the charge with his defense and ability to get out on the break for fastbreak points. He had 17 points in the second quarter alone.
Oklahoma City learned from previous games and didn’t take their foot off the gas to start the third quarter. They quickly pushed their lead to 20 points and never looked back.
With more than seven minutes in the fourth quarter, Oklahoma pulled its starters. As the final seconds began to tick off, the fans began chanting OKC as they streamed out of the building.
Oklahoma City will host Minnesota in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals Tuesday night at the Paycom Center. Tip off is at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN. Game 2 is set for 7:30 p.m. Thursday before the series moves to Minnesota.
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