The 60-win club has been under siege this second round.
The 64-win Cavaliers are down 0-2 to the Pacers.
The 61-win Celtics are down 0-2 to the Knicks.
In NBA history, home teams that trail 0-2 in a series have gone on to lose the series 88% of the time.
Gulp.
It was under that ominous backdrop that the 68-win Thunder, down 0-1 to the Nuggets, tipped off late Wednesday night in Oklahoma City.
The Thunder, in what became clear from the jump, had no interest in sharing company with the beleaguered beasts of the East.
“We knew what was at stake tonight,” Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said.
Oklahoma City pummeled Denver 149-106, making sure the demons from Game 1 were denied entry to Game 2. The Thunder scored 87 points in the first half — an NBA playoff record. OKC led Denver by as many as 49 points. Gilgeous-Alexander was a plus-51 in his 30 minutes — the best plus/minus in a playoff game. Ever.
“Winning by 100 or winning by two, it’s still 1-1,” Gilgeous-Alexander said.
He’s right, of course. Denver did its job. It earned the all-important split, stealing home-court advantage as the series heads to the Rockies. Doesn’t matter that OKC is a plus-41 through two games.
But don’t you know Boston or Cleveland would love to trade places with OKC?
Before the Thunder’s win, the home team in these NBA playoffs had lost seven games in a row.
“It’s definitely on your mind no matter what, but regardless of what has happened, we have to worry about what we can control going forward,” Gilgeous-Alexander said.
OKC broke the curse and then some.
SGA was brilliant. He scored 34 points on 13 shots. He was 11-of-11 from the foul line. He had eight assists against two turnovers. Compare that to Boston’s Jayson Tatum, who was 5-of-19 in the Celtics’ Game 2 collapse.
Nikola Jokic outplayed SGA in Game 1. That flipped in Game 2.
The Thunder limited Jokic to 17 points, eight rebounds and six assists — as pedestrian of a stat line as you’ll ever see from the big Serbian. Jokic was a minus-36 to SGA’s plus-51.
Gilgeous-Alexander wasn’t about to let the Thunder lose. What happened to the Celtics and Cavs wasn’t for him.
“At the end of the day, you never know what a series is gonna look like,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “You just have to worry about the next game and be better for the next game. Wherever it takes you, it takes you.”
Takes the Thunder to Denver, all tied up.
Joe Mussatto is a sports columnist for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Joe? Email him at jmussatto@oklahoman.com. Support Joe’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.
