Experience versus the youth movement and the latter won out. For the first time in nearly a decade, since 2016, the Oklahoma City Thunder are moving on to the Western Conference finals.
The Thunder annihilated the Denver Nuggets, 125-93, Sunday in Game 7 in Oklahoma City. The Nuggets forced a winner-take-all showdown with a dominant win in Denver on Thursday, but their gas tanks were on empty, and they had little left to challenge the Thunder in a game that was over, for all intents and purposes, at the half.
Although the Nuggets took an early lead in the first quarter, the Thunder’s lock-down defense took control in the second. The Thunder struggled shooting early and did not nail their first 3-pointer until the final minute of the first quarter. But an 18-5 surge to end the first half gave the Thunder a 14-point advantage, 60-46, heading into the break.
From there, Oklahoma City picked up right where they left off and continued extending their lead, pulling well ahead and securing the 32-point win.
Coach Mark Daigneault said his players handled the pressure well.
“There’s not many games, you wake up in the morning and you know that you’re going to remember the game for the rest of your life, and Game 7 is one of them,” he said. “To be able to focus through that and perform the way these guys did today was very impressive.”
All year long, the Thunder have been the cream of the crop in the league, and they certainly looked that way Sunday after looking unsure of themselves and vulnerable at times against the Nuggets. Oklahoma City shot 49% from the field, but it was the 22 turnovers they forced, including 16 thefts, that sealed Denver’s fate.
Embed from Getty ImagesAlex Caruso got a standing ovation from the sellout crowd for his crucial role in the defensive chaos, finishing with 11 points, 3 steals and a team-high plus-40.
The loss ends a tough season for the Nuggets, who found themselves in an impossible scenario after the organization fired coach Michael Malone, who won the most games in franchise history and general manager Calvin Booth with three games remaining in the regular season.
That is not to say that the Nuggets did not put up a fight and just gave up in the first half Sunday. Nikola Jokic nearly put up a triple-double, with 20 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists, and Christian Braun had 19 points, scoring 12 in a feisty first half. Aaron Gordon, who was initially listed as doubtful and was not expected to play because of a Grade II hamstring strain, started and played through the pain to put up eight points and 11 rebounds.
“Aaron Gordon is incredible,” Nuggets interim coach David Adelman told reporters after the game in his postgame news conference. “What he played with today, I don’t know many people that would even attempt to run up and down. … It’s one of the more incredible things I’ve ever seen.”
But with the Thunder running away and hiding early in the third quarter, the Nuggets’ light seemed to dim and ultimately fade away. With six minutes to go in the final frame, Adelman benched his starters and put up the white flag.
“It’s just about getting to the finish line healthier,” Adelman told reporters. “You have to have the freshest version of yourself. That’s part of why I’m so proud of these guys to get to 7.”
The Thunder will do everything they can to keep this train on the track despite a quick 48-hour turnaround.
Oklahoma City will host Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals on Tuesday on ESPN.
