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The Denver Nuggets started their second round, Western Conference Playoffs Semifinals series on the road against an elite Oklahoma City Thunder team that finished the regular season with a 68-14 […]
The Denver Nuggets started their second round, Western Conference Playoffs Semifinals series on the road against an elite Oklahoma City Thunder team that finished the regular season with a 68-14 record. The Nuggets were also less than 48 hours removed from a Game 7 win over the Los Angeles Clippers at Ball Arena.
In both this game and this series, the 2022-23 NBA Champions were posed as heavy underdogs.
But the Nuggets went into Paycom Center, and came out with a 1-0 series lead.
The Nuggets started the game hot, taking a 24-16 lead, but the Thunder quickly responded with a 10-0 run and started controlling the pace of the game. Denver quickly started looking rushed on offense, and their ball handling wasn’t locked in, both leading to many turnovers, which Oklahoma City wasn’t shy to capitalize on.
Michael Porter Jr. went 1-for-8 for the Nuggets in the first half including 0-for-3 from three-point, and had two particularly head-scratching plays: a failed defensive rebound, after lazily trying to let it fall to him instead of accounting for the incoming Thunder player, and a backcourt violation that MPJ made no attempt to avoid, after failing to catch a crisp but routine pass.
The Thunder led 60-50 at halftime and honestly, it could have been much worse for the Nuggets. Denver committed nine turnovers to Oklahoma City’s five. The Nuggets allowed 7 offensive rebounds, and Denver shot just 2-for-15 from three-point range.
Nikola Jokic had 16 points, 12 rebounds, and 2 assists at halftime, while 2024-25 NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 15 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists, going 6-of-12 from the field and 3-of-4 at the line.
To Denver’s advantage, Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein were both tagged for three fouls by halftime.
The Nuggets picked up the second half right where they left off: turning the ball over, this time with Jamal Murray allowing an Alex Caruso steal to lead to a bucket. Two possessions later, a Jokic out-of-bounds pass led to an 11th turnover.
Denver cut the lead to eight points on multiple occasions, but each time, Oklahoma City extended the lead to double digits again, thanks to their aggressive defense. By the end of the game, the Nuggets committed a whopping 18 turnovers, to the Thunder’s nine. All these extra possessions, along with one of the most lethal offenses in the league, had all signs pointing to an Oklahoma City victory.
The Thunder led by as many as 14 points in the third quarter, but the Nuggets were able to open the fourth quarter down just 90-85, thanks to a 15-8 run to end the third quarter, fueled by Jamal Murray and Russell Westbrook.
Denver cut Oklahoma City’s lead to 109-101 following a Jokic free throw, but then Gilgeous-Alexander hit shoots on the Thunder’s next two possessions, including a step back 25-foot three-pointer, to put Oklahoma City up 113-102 with 4:31 left to play.
But the Nuggets didn’t let up. Murray scored the game’s next four points to cut the Thunder’s lead back down to seven points. Big man Isaiah Hartenstein made a 12-foot shot at the 3:02 mark, but missed one at the 2:21 after two successful Jokic free throws: starting to open the door for a Nuggets comeback.
Russell Westbrook trimmed the Thunder’s lead by just a point after going 1-for-2 at the line, and then Chet Holmgren missed a three-pointer at 2:04 with Oklahoma City up six points. Jokic made a contested shot in the paint, cutting it to four points, and then the 2024-25 NBA MVP missed a 19-footer with 1:27 left.
With 1:07 to play, Jokic set his feet at the top of the key, jab-stepped multiple times towards Holmgren, his defender, and then drilled a 26-foot three-pointer with 1:07 left to play.
Now, the Nuggets were down just 115-114 with under a minute to play after a Jalen Williams miss in the other end: but capitalizing wouldn’t be easy. Westbrook missed a three-pointer, Aaron Gordon secured the rebound, but then his putback attempt was blocked at the rim by Jalen Williams.
Then the free throw game started, and the Thunder’s strategy did not pay off.
Denver first fouled Gilgeous-Alexander, who drained both attempts. But then the Thunder, up three points, intentionally fouled Jokic following the inbound pass: limiting the Nuggets to a maximum of two points instead of three on that possession. Jokic went two-for-two himself, then the Nuggets allowed a quick SGA dunk on the other end. 119-116 Oklahoma City, 11 seconds left to play.
Aaron Gordon made both of his free throws, cutting Oklahoma City’s lead to just one point in the final second of the game. Holmgren was the next free throw shooter for the Thunder: but he missed both attempts.
The final 7.1 seconds of the game are what we call instant history, with Westbrook finding an open Aaron Gordon, who for the second time already this postseason, hit a game-winning shot: this time, a spectacular 25-foot three-point shot.
The Nuggets won 121-119, despite not holding a lead from the end of the first quarter until the final seconds.
Denver takes a 1-0 series lead, re-writing the script instantly on how this series might play out. A Thunder sweep was considered statistically more likely than any kind of Nuggets series victory.
But now, the Nuggets are up 1-0, and just need to win three out of the next six games in order to advance to the Western Conference Finals. Winning Games 3, 4, and 6 at home is one formula to getting the job done, now. Denver has also proved they can win in Oklahoma City, making Games 2 and 5 potential victories as well before even having to worry about sweating a Game 7.
Jokic finished the game with 44 points, 22 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal, and 2 blocks: the first player ever to post that stat-line in the playoffs (and second in any game, ever) but honestly, who is even keeping track anymore? Jokic did also commit seven of the Nuggets’ 18 turnovers, as the team’s primary ball handler.
Jokic hit 15-of-29 shots from the field, 2-for-6 from three-point range, and 10-of-13 shots from the free throw line.
Gordon had the second-most Nuggets points, scoring 22 points on 7-for-15 shooting including 3-of-6 from three-point range and 5-for-5 from the free throw line.
Murray had 21 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists in a team-high 44 minutes on the court.
For the Thunder, Gilgeous-Alexander led the way with 33 points on 12-of-26 shooting, along with 10 rebounds and 8 assists in a near-triple double effort. Alex Caruso added 20 points off the bench on a clean 7-of-12 shooting including 5-of-9 three-pointers. No other Thunder players scored over 20 points.
Game 2 will take place on Wednesday night, with the Thunder looking to bounce back quickly, and the Nuggets looking to take an early 2-0 series lead.
Header Photo Credit: Nate Billings/AP
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