A win? Officially, yes.
A statement? Unofficially … hell yes.
The Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Denver Nuggets on Sunday, advancing to the Western Conference finals. Beat may not be strong enough. Battered, bludgeoned, pounded—those are better ways to describe the Thunder’s 125–93 Game 7 win. The Nuggets led by five at the end of the first quarter. By the end of the third they trailed by 25.
Yeesh, that was impressive. Oklahoma City’s stars were brilliant. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams combined for nearly half (59 points) of the Thunder’s total production. Its defense was airtight. Denver shot 39% from the floor and 22% from three. Its pressure was relentless. Oklahoma City forced 22 turnovers, 16 of the live-ball variety.
“You’re not going to win a playoff game like that,” said Nuggets interim coach David Adelman. “Relentless defensive team.”
Indeed. This was the very best of OKC, the reason the Thunder won 68 games, why they led the NBA in defensive rating, why despite its inexperience—have you heard that OKC started the season as the youngest team in the NBA?—was considered a favorite to at least advance to the NBA Finals, if not win it.
“They can go anywhere they want to with their roster,” said Adelman. “It’s a unique group. The way they put the team together feels like a winning formula. It’s not just talent. There’s a lot of substance to their game. Guys understand their roles.”
Take Gilgeous-Alexander, the presumptive MVP. He admitted he was nervous. Game 7, home floor, staring down the (other) best player in the world, Nikola Jokic. “Don’t bring your ‘A’ game,” said Gilgeous-Alexander, “and it could all be over with.”
Oklahoma City didn’t bring its best early. Denver, steeped in playoff experience, started strong. Christian Braun scored nine points in the first quarter. Jokic added seven. Aaron Gordon, playing through a Grade 2 hamstring strain (read: bad) collected five rebounds. As banged up as the Nuggets were (Gordon, Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. were all nursing some kind of injury/ailment) you could see a scenario where Denver gutted out a win.
In the second quarter, the Thunder settled in. Jalen Williams got going. Ask anyone in Oklahoma City (and I did): Williams holds the key to Oklahoma City’s playoff success. Williams struggled mightily in Game 6, scoring six points on 3-for-16 shooting. He said he didn’t sleep much Saturday night. He responded by nearly tripling (17 points) that Game 6 output in the second quarter of Game 7 en route to a 24-point afternoon.
“Great force,” said Thunder coach Mark Daigneault. “He was on the gas from the jump tonight.”
Added Gilgeous-Alexander, “He wouldn’t have played the way he played today last year and I know that 100 percent. To see him take that step forward is a really proud moment for me.”
Alex Caruso wasn’t on the team last year. The Thunder flipped promising playmaker Josh Giddey for the defensive specialist last summer. It paid dividends in the regular season, with Caruso middle linebacker-ing a defense that led the league in steals, deflections, forced turnovers and virtually every defensive category.
On Sunday, Daigneault had a different assignment for him: primary defender on Nikola Jokic. Caruso’s activity, the Thunder reason, could be effective in denying Jokic. “Best way to guard a great player,” said Chet Holmgren. “Don’t let him get the ball.” That left Caruso (6' 5", 186 pounds, per NBA.com) to wrestle with Jokic (6' 11", 284) for 26 grueling minutes.
The result: 20 points for Jokic on a postseason low nine field goal attempts. For the plus/minus heads out there, Jokic finished the game minus-23. Caruso was an astonishing plus-40.
“He’s a player who rises to the occasion,” gushed Gilgeous-Alexander. “He understands the moment and controls what he can control. He does that at a very high level. No one does that at a higher level that I have ever played with. He is always in the moment. Always figuring out how to change the game and better the team. It doesn’t matter if it’s a Tuesday in February in New Orleans or a Game 7. He’s a big reason why we’re as good as we are.”
Gilgeous-Alexander is the biggest. There’s been plenty of minimizing his likely MVP award, a framing of Gilgeous-Alexander as the MVP but Jokic as the NBA’s best player. Perhaps. But in Game 7 no one was better than SGA. He scored 35 points, 11 in the third quarter, when Oklahoma City blew the game open. He was 12-for-19 from the floor. He made three of his four three-pointers. Eight of his nine free throws. He committed zero turnovers. Sunday was the most significant game of Gilgeous-Alexander’s career. And he played his very best.
“You know who this is?” Holmgren asked at the end of Gilgeous-Alexander’s television interview. “The MVP.”
The tests keep coming, with Anthony Edwards and Minnesota waiting. The Timberwolves are significantly better than its 49–33 regular season suggests and cruised to wins over the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors in the opening rounds. Julius Randle has shaken his postseason demons. Gilgeous-Alexander’s cousin, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, is waiting to defend him. Rudy Gobert offers a fresh challenge.
In short: The Wolves are good. When it comes to this version of Oklahoma City, though, there isn’t anyone better.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Oklahoma City’s Stars Outplay Denver’s in Game 7’s Battle of MVP Contenders.