Thunder into Western Conference finals after rolling Nuggets
OKLAHOMA CITY — The Oklahoma City Thunder grew up on Sunday.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 35 points, Jalen Williams added 24 and the Thunder rolled into the Western Conference finals, beating the Denver Nuggets 125-93 in Game 7.
The top-seeded Thunder will host the sixth-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves starting Tuesday. It’s Oklahoma City’s first trip to the conference finals since 2016.
Oklahoma City went a league-best 68-14 in the regular season, becoming the youngest team to win at least 60 games. To back up their status as the best team in the league, the Thunder had to get past three-time MVP Nikola Jokic and a Denver squad that won the NBA title in 2023 and beat the Los Angeles Clippers in seven games in the first round this year.
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.”
The Thunder were able to clean up several areas they’ve struggled with this series in Game 7, including finishing at the rim. They made 27 layups and dunks on Sunday, tied for the 2nd-most by any team in a game this postseason per GeniusIQ.
Oklahoma City also finally had success against Denver’s zone defense, scoring 1.00 points per play in Game 7 after averaging just 0.91 from Games 1-6.
The Thunder fell behind by 11 in the first quarter, but took the lead early in the second. Oklahoma City outscored Denver 39-20 in the period to take a 60-46 lead at the break.
Aaron Gordon, playing through a hamstring strain, was called for a flagrant-1 foul for elbowing Gilgeous-Alexander in the face early in the third quarter. Gilgeous-Alexander made both free throws, and then Williams hit a short jumper to give Oklahoma City a 66-46 lead.
Cason Wallace got loose on a fast break and dunked on Nikola Jokic to put the Thunder up 78-57, sparking delirious roars from the crowd.
Oklahoma City cruised from there and now hopes to make another leap.
“We’re better now than we were at the beginning of the series, and it’s because of them,” Daigneault said. “They pushed us to the limit.”
The Thunder have a quick turnaround, with Game 1 vs. the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday. Oklahoma City was installed as -400 favorites in the Western Conference finals at ESPN BET. Minnesota opened as a +300 underdog in the series.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.