Jalen Williams bounces back with a crucial two-way performance as the Thunder eliminate the Nuggets in Game 7.
OKLAHOMA CITY — The basketball education of the Oklahoma City Thunder, a team that sashayed through a breezy regular season, took a steep turn Sunday: Could this young team ace the ultimate playoff test?
Matter of fact, yes. And resoundingly so. Game 7 of their Western Conference semifinal with the Denver Nuggets was secured with a 125-85 victory, earning the Thunder some stripes ahead of the Western Conference Finals.
As with anything, context is important: The Nuggets, here at the end of their season, were gassed, gobbled up by injuries — Aaron Gordon played on one leg — and saddled with depleted depth.
Still, here this deep in the playoffs, the reasons for winning games are inconsequential. It’s all about the win, period, especially when the series stretches seven games. Especially with a conference final berth on tap, putting OKC four wins away from a trip to the NBA Finals.
The Game 7 outcome was never in doubt once the Thunder broke the tension in a 39-point second quarter. But before the ball went up, both teams were caught dealing with the unknown.
“There are not many games where you wake up in the morning and know you’ll remember the rest of your life,” said OKC coach Mark Daigneault.
Here are Five Takeaways from the winner-take-all showdown that vaulted OKC into the West final:
1. OKC can’t take anything for granted
From SGA outscoring Denver’s dynamic duo by himself to OKC’s overall game plan, the Thunder impress in Game 7.
When you win 68 times in the regular season, a success rate which isn’t at all regular, then breeze through the first round, a sense of superiority can creep into the mindset. OKC could hardly be blamed for that, if it did indeed happen.
In any event, the Thunder know there’s a difference between seasons; this one is more challenging, more demanding and definitely more dangerous.
That’s what they learned in this series. The regular season means nothing, because if it did, the Nuggets would’ve been swept aside much more easily.
Going forward, starting with the Timberwolves, the Thunder don’t need to be perfect, but maybe better than they showed against Denver.
“I was nervous,” said Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, regarding his mood before the Game 7 tipoff.
OKC had much more to lose. But a tightly contested game became a blowout and all the lapses and imperfections that allowed the series to last this long suddenly disappeared.
“Seven games is long and you’re not going to play optimal basketball throughout the series,” said Daigneault.
Sure enough, OKC wasn’t a 68-win-dominant team against the Nuggets. But they proved something, to themselves mainly, that any basketball adversity can be overcome.
When it mattered most, OKC advanced in the same manner in which they arrived — with Shai coming up big and efficiently (35 points in 36 minutes) and his mates supplying all the necessary help.
“We’re better now than we were at the beginning of this series and it’s because of them,” said Daigneault, who acknowledged that the series “tested our resolve.”
He added: “We’re going to need that resolve going forward.”
2. Aaron Gordon, gamer
His desire matched his heart. The problem was, neither could match the throbbing tendon in his left leg. Hamstrung by a strained hamstring, Gordon gutted it out anyway simply by suiting up.
“I knew the risks, but I wanted to be out there for my team,” he said.
He fought for rebounds in traffic — somehow managing to grab 11, his third-highest game total in the playoffs. He scored eight points, making half his shots. Not only did he play 24 minutes, he survived them.
He called it “old man basketball,” citing how he rarely left his feet.
Nuggets coach David Adelman called it something else: “One of the most incredible things I’ve ever seen.”
Eventually he and everyone knew how this would end. Gordon was visibly dragging his left leg, especially after the first quarter. And the Thunder began exploiting it, as the Nuggets knew they would. They began pressing him whenever he handled the ball; Gordon was stripped twice and was helpless against that level of defense in the open floor.
3. J-Dub flips it in OKC’s favor
Jalen Williams bounces back, while a trio of reserves injects defense and energy into the Thunder’s closeout win over Denver.
This was a reputation-saving and season-saving effort by the one player in this series who was due: Jalen Williams went missing for three games, only to announce his reappearance with a bullhorn.
The second quarter was the moment of truth for OKC. The Thunder were ambushed by the Nuggets after the opening tip, when Denver assumed a quick 11-point lead and sent a low hum through Paycom Center. The crowd wondered: Was this really about to go down?
Well, if you mean Williams to the rescue, then yes, absolutely. He stripped Jokić. He drove inside for another dunk, then a 3-pointer. He scored 17 of OKC’s 29 points in the quarter, a dominant showing, the kind a title contender needs to see from a second option.
In that quarter, he shot 8-for-11. That meant more field goals than he managed in each of Games 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6.
“He came with great force,” said Gilgeous-Alexander. “Used his speed and power. Gave us momentum. He wouldn’t have played the way he played today last year.”
Williams said he wasn’t worried about the previous games and didn’t feel burdened; if anything, “I was hyped up, excited to play.”
He added: “You don’t know how many Game 7s you’re going to get.”
If the Thunder get another, they now have the blueprint.
4. Defense pays off on Joker
Give Oklahoma City coach Mark Daigneault his due for devising yet another way to make Jokić work for every shot: He inserted Alex Caruso as a first line of defense.
Yes, that’s 6-foot-5 Alex Caruso.
Caruso is feisty, a solid and smart defender whose job was to challenge every Jokić dribble. And when help was needed, it came from Chet Holmgren or Isaiah Hartenstein, who’d cheat off their man and apply the double.
This is the same strategy OKC used in a blowout Game 2 win, so doubling back meant getting the same result.
Daigneault said the ploy was “a priority” and credited the platooning players for being relentless and coordinated.
Salute general manager Sam Presti as well. He added Caruso and Hartenstein last summer for reasons like these, on the chance OKC would needed to go through Jokić on the journey toward the NBA Finals.
The additions made sense last July and paid off Sunday.
5. Nuggets need work
Better bench, backup center headline Nuggets’ offseason to-do list.
This series magnified the obvious about the Nuggets and exposed a team just three years removed from a championship: Depth eventually became lethal problem.
Whenever Jokić and Jamal Murray needed help, they received it only occasionally, and not at all in the decisive Game 7. Gordon can be excused from this conversation; the Nuggets wouldn’t have gone this far without the player who saved three games with big buckets.
But Michael Porter Jr.? He was unplayable. He suffered badly from a lack of confidence in his shot, and his frequent misses killed more than a few chances, placing extra burden on Murray and especially Jokić.
This has become habit for Porter, inconsistent this season after a poor playoff performance against the Wolves in last year’s semis. This time, Porter had an excuse; a problematic left shoulder “affected so many things.”
He added: “At the end of the day I didn’t play well … it was tough for me mentally.”
And this team gave Christian Braun 35-plus minutes in the playoffs. That’s because Russell Westbrook was awash in turnovers and missed shots, a shell of the MVP he once was. The deeper the Nuggets looked down the bench for relief, the thinner the options; the Game 7 lights spooked Julian Strawther and Peyton Watson (combined 4-16 FGs).
The Nuggets will likely remove the interim tag from Adelman, who earned another look. Then they must find a general manager who can navigate the financial handcuffs of this team and salvage the remaining prime of Jokić. Put Porter on the market? Bring back Russ? No easy answers.
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Shaun Powell has covered the NBA for more than 25 years. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on X.
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