Grit and Poise: Thunder Outlast Pacers to Reclaim Homecourt Advantage
The Indiana Pacers led the Oklahoma City Thunder 86-76 with less than a minute remaining in the third quarter of game four of the NBA Finals, but the Thunder outscored the Pacers 35-18 the rest of the way--including 12-1 in the final 3:20--to win 111-104 and reclaim homecourt advantage. The series shifts back to Oklahoma City on Monday night tied 2-2 after the Pacers led 1-0 and 2-1. This was the Thunder's second lowest scoring total in a win in the
2025 playoffs; they lost five of their previous six playoff games when
they scored less than 112 points, but they are 12-1 in the 2025 playoffs
when they score at least 112 points. The Thunder improved to 5-0 following a loss in 2025 playoffs.
The Thunder cruised through most of the 2024-25 regular season and went
12-4 in their first 16 playoff games, but beating the Indiana Pacers in the NBA Finals has been a
tough challenge for the Thunder, who displayed a lot of grit and poise
to come from behind to win on the road versus a team that has thrived in games that are close late in the fourth quarter.
The Thunder prevailed by outscoring the Pacers 50-36 in the paint after being outscored 50-48 in the paint in their game three loss. The Thunder also outrebounded the Pacers 43-33 while holding the Pacers to 34-80 (.425) field goal shooting. We are often told that range shooting and spreading the floor are essential for teams to be successful in today's NBA, but the Thunder won despite shooting just 3-17 (.176) from three point range because size matters in the NBA, and because controlling the paint is a major factor for a championship contender.
The biggest change that Thunder Coach Mark Daigneault made--literally and figuratively--was reinserting Isaiah Hartenstein in the starting lineup after replacing him with Cason Wallace in the first three games of this series. The move back to Hartenstein may not have seemed to help the Thunder when the Pacers jumped out to a 24-15 first quarter lead, but going back to the lineup and player rotation that enabled the Thunder to be a dominant team during the regular season and first three rounds of the playoffs paid dividends as the Thunder wore down the Pacers the rest of the way. Wallace's minutes have decreased from 33 in game one to 23 in game two, 24 in game three, and 19 in game four. Hartenstein's minutes have been fairly consistent--17, 22, 18, 21--but the Thunder won the two games when he played at least 20 minutes and lost the two games when he played less than 20 minutes. Daigneault tried to be clever by changing his starting lineup for the first three games and that move backfired, but he deserves credit for recognizing his mistake before it was too late to salvage this series.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored a game-high 35 points on 12-24 field goal shooting and 10-10 free throw shooting, including 15 fourth quarter points. He had no assists, but sometimes the most effective way for a team's best player to impact winning is to accept the burden of scoring even when the defense is tilted against him. Instead of insisting on making the "right" play, Gilgeous-Alexander made winning plays by putting the ball in the basket when the game was up for grabs. He has scored 131 points in this series so far, the third most points scored by a player in the first four NBA Finals games of his career, trailing only Rick Barry (165) and Allen Iverson (141). Jalen Williams often initiated the offense while Gilgeous-Alexander played off of the ball, and Williams finished with 27 points, seven rebounds, and three assists. Alex Caruso contributed 20 points and a game-high tying five steals in 30 minutes off of the bench. Chet Holmgren powered his thin frame to 14 points and a game-high 15 rebounds.
Pascal Siakam led the Pacers with 20 points and a game-high tying five steals while also grabbing eight rebounds, but he shot just 6-15 from the field. Nine Pacers played in this game, and Siakam was one of just three with a positive plus/minus number (+7, best on the Pacers). Tyrese Haliburton scored 18 points and had a game-high seven assists but he also had a game-high five turnovers. Obi Toppin scored 17 points and snared seven rebounds in 29 minutes off of the bench, but he had a game-worst -15 plus/minus number.
The Thunder became accustomed to easy, pretty wins during their dream regular season and for two of the first three rounds of the playoffs, but the NBA Finals have been a series of battles that are testing--and forging--the championship mettle of both teams. If the Thunder keep Hartenstein in the starting lineup, don't make any silly rotation changes, and use their size to dominate the paint then they have a great chance to prevail in game five to move to within one win of an NBA title.
Labels: Alex Caruso, Cason Wallace, Chet Holmgren, Indiana Pacers, Isaiah Hartenstein, Jalen Williams, Obi Toppin, Oklahoma City Thunder, Pascal Siakam, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Tyrese Haliburton
posted by David Friedman @ 2:09 AM
Rolling Thunder: Oklahoma City Slows Down Indiana, Ties Series at 1-1
After losing game one of the NBA Finals to the Indiana Pacers in stunning fashion, the Oklahoma City Thunder led game two 26-20 at the end of the first quarter and never trailed the rest of the way en route to a 123-107 victory. The Thunder outrebounded the Pacers 43-35 after being outrebounded 56-39 in game one, but the biggest difference is that the Thunder shot 40-82 (.488) from the field after shooting just 39-98 (.398) from the field in game one. The Thunder outscored the Pacers in each of the first three quarters before losing the fourth quarter 33-30 because of a cosmetic 11-6 run by the Pacers during which the outcome was never in doubt.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored a game-high 34 points on 11-21 field goal shooting, he dished for a game-high eight assists, and he had a game-high four steals. Gilgeous-Alexander scored at least 30 points in a home playoff
game for the ninth straight time, tying an NBA record set by Wilt
Chamberlain from 1961-64. Gilgeous-Alexander is not only an efficient and prolific scorer, but he attracts so much defensive attention that he creates easy scoring opportunities for his teammates. The term "gravity" seemingly has been trademarked only for use in reference to Stephen Curry even though the reality is that great players have tilted the floor/commanded double teams/exerted "gravity" throughout basketball history. Gilgeous-Alexander has scored 72 points in the first two games of his first NBA Finals appearance; in contrast, Curry scored just 45 points in his first two NBA Final games, producing 26 points on 10-20 field goal shooting in a 108-100 overtime win versus Cleveland in the 2015 NBA Finals and then scoring 19 points on 5-23 field goal shooting in a 95-93 overtime loss to Cleveland in that series. Curry's Warriors trailed 2-1 in that series before winning the title in six games as Andre Iguodala earned the Finals MVP. Gilgeous-Alexander is already a more impactful player at both ends of the court than Curry was during his prime, and Gilgeous-Alexander is still improving.
Alex Caruso, known primarily as a defensive stopper, poured in 20 points on 6-11 field goal shooting in 27 minutes off of the bench. Jalen Williams shot poorly from the field (5-14) for the second game in a row, but still finished with 19 points, five rebounds, and five assists. Aaron Wiggins made a big impact with 18 points off of the bench in 21 minutes, logging by far the best/plus minus number (+24) of any player in this game. Chet Holmgren bounced back from a subpar game one performance to finish with 15 points, six rebounds, and one blocked shot.
Replacing Isaiah Hartenstein with Cason Wallace in the starting lineup proved disastrous in game one, but in game two the Thunder played so much better overall that the change had less of an obvious impact; after posting a game-worst -13 plus/minus number in game one, Wallace had a +12 plus/minus number in game two while scoring four points in 23 minutes. Wallace did not light up the scoreboard, but at least he did not torch the Thunder's chances to win. Hartenstein led the Thunder in rebounding (eight) for the second game in a row, he ranked second on the team in assists (four), and he had the Thunder's second best plus/minus number (+17) despite scoring just three points in 22 minutes. Coach Mark Daigneault did not overtly admit that his lineup switch was a mistake by switching back, but in game one Wallace played 33 minutes and Hartenstein played just 17 minutes, compared to 23 and 22 respectively in game two. Look for Hartenstein's minutes to increase and Wallace's minutes to decrease even if Daigneault stubbornly sticks with his changed starting lineup.
Game one hero Tyrese Haliburton scored a team-high 17 points and had a team-high tying six assists, but he also had a game-high five turnovers. Haliburton's scoring total is inflated by his 12 fourth quarter points when the Pacers trailed by at least 15 points during the entire final stanza; he did not have much of an impact during the first three quarters. Six other Pacers scored between 11 points and 16 points. Pascal Siakam shot just 3-11 from the field, finishing with 15 points, a team-high seven rebounds, and four assists. T.J. McConnell had 11 points plus a game-high tying six assists. The Pacers tried to get the job done by committee, but the Thunder not only have a better committee but they also clearly have the best individual player in Gilgeous-Alexander.
The Pacers own homecourt advantage in this series thanks to their game one win, but the Thunder have beaten the Pacers three of the last four games that they played, and the Thunder have looked like the superior team for the vast majority of time during those four games. As the series shifts venues, there will be different officiating crews and other game to game changes, and the
Pacers' bench players will likely perform better than they did in Oklahoma City, but the better team generally prevails in a seven game series and the Thunder have demonstrated that they are the better team.
Some 1-1 series are more "equal" than others; in the 1991 NBA Finals, the Chicago Bulls lost game one to the L.A. Lakers on a last second shot, won game two 107-86, and won the next three games to clinch the first of their six NBA titles. It would not be surprising to see this series follow a similar course.
Labels: Alex Caruso, Indiana Pacers, Jalen Williams, Oklahoma City Thunder, Pascal Siakam, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Tyrese Haliburton
posted by David Friedman @ 11:10 AM
Thunder Muzzle Wolves to Advance to the NBA Finals for the First Time Since 2012
The Oklahoma City Thunder outscored the Minnesota Timberwolves 26-9 in the first quarter and built a 39 point second half lead en route to a 124-94 win to clinch the Western Conference Finals, 4-1. The Thunder received the Oscar Robertson Trophy for winning the Western
Conference Championship after shooting 46-88 (.523) from the field while limiting the Timberwolves to 35-85 (.412) field goal shooting. The Thunder also outrebounded the Timberwolves 46-39. The official fast break numbers were 19-11 in favor of the Thunder, but it seemed like the Thunder had an even more substantial edge in that category. At times, it looked like the Thunder were playing six on five as they had 14 steals and converted 21 turnovers into 18 points; at halftime, the Timberwolves had 14 turnovers and 12 field goals made, a rare team "Harden" (more turnovers than field goals made).
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored a game-high 34 points on 14-25 field goal shooting while passing for a game-high eight assists, grabbing seven rebounds, and committing just two turnovers. He was one of five Thunder players who had plus/minus numbers of at least +21. The Thunder's first quarter domination was largely a product of Gilgeous-Alexander's high level scoring and playmaking, as he scored or assisted on 24 first quarter points: he scored 12 points on 5-7 field goal shooting, and he had three assists to Chet Holmgren (one three pointer, two dunks), one assist to Isaiah Hartenstein (dunk), and one assist to Cason Wallace for a three pointer just before the buzzer. Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 31.4 ppg, 8.2 apg, and 5.2 rpg during the series with shooting splits of .457/.318/.863 to earn the Magic Johnson
Western Conference Finals MVP, joining a club that
includes Stephen Curry (2022), Nikola Jokic (2023), and Luka Doncic (2024).
In addition to Gilgeous-Alexander's individual brilliance, the Thunder are distinguished by their unrelenting defensive pressure, the athleticism throughout their roster, and their overall depth. Holmgren had 22 points, seven rebounds, and a game-high tying three blocked shots. Jalen Williams played a solid all-around game (19 points, game-high eight rebounds, five assists). Lu Dort scored 12 points and had his usual tremendous impact defensively, Isaiah Joe led the bench brigade with 11 points, and Alex Caruso was a menace on defense with a game-high four steals plus numerous deflections and general disruptiveness. The offseason additions of Caruso and Isaiah Hartenstein (eight points, five rebounds, two blocked shots in 17 minutes) helped the Thunder improve from being a very good team to being a dominant team.
The Timberwolves looked overwhelmed and frustrated. Anthony Edwards insists that he does not want to be the face of the NBA, and perhaps he should not be considered for that subjective title after scoring just 19 points on 7-18 field goal shooting with a game-worst -29 plus/minus number. He averaged 23.0 ppg, 7.4 rpg, and 4.6 apg during the series with shooting splits of .471/.282/.688. Edwards had two 30 point games during this series, and the Timberwolves went 1-1 in those contests, but he also had three games with less than 20 points, all three of which the Timberwolves lost.
In the postgame press conference after game five, Edwards scoffed at the notion that being eliminated from the Western Conference Finals in five games for the second year in a row should hurt: "I don't know why people would think it would hurt. It's exciting for
me. I'm 23. I get to do it a whole bunch of times. I'm
hurt more so for [teammate] Mike [Conley]. I came up short for Mike. We tried last year, we
couldn't get it. We tried again this year. We'll try again next year.
But hurt is a terrible word to use. I'm good." Edwards should be careful about asserting that he will reach the Western Conference Finals "a whole bunch of times"; nothing is promised, and a lot can change for players and teams in a short period of time. Perhaps a mental health professional would say that Edwards has a mature response to losing, but I would argue that Edwards' attitude is not what one would expect from a champion or a potential champion. Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant agonized after every season when they failed to win a title; again, maybe that is not the healthiest approach or the approach that a "normal" person might have, but perhaps champions are not "normal." There is a difference between winners and champions. Just making it to the NBA means that you are a winner--but very few NBA players become champions, and even fewer become the best player on a championship team. To become a champion, you have to feel at least a little hurt when you fall short. Maybe Edwards feels hurt but is too prideful to admit that publicly. By no means am I suggesting that he is not capable of leading a team to a title; he is too talented to write off at this early stage of his career. However, there are reasons to wonder about him based on how he plays and some of the things that he says. Edwards has had some great playoff performances, but he has also been outplayed by the other team's star in back to back Western Conference Finals, and those stars are young--Luka Doncic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander--so Edwards will have to figure out how to beat his peers to win a championship; he is not in position to just inherit the top spot from older stars such as LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Stephen Curry.
Julius Randle had 24 points on 8-14 field goal shooting plus five rebounds and three assists. Naz Reid added 11 points on 5-6 field goal shooting and a game-high tying three blocked shots in 24 minutes off of the bench. Terrence Shannon Jr. scored 11 points in 16 minutes off of the bench, and after the game Coach Chris Finch conceded that next season he may lengthen the rotation to give his young bench players more opportunities to contribute.
The Timberwolves are a very good team, but not quite good enough to win a championship. It is interesting to note that their roster was built by Tim Connelly to beat the Denver Nuggets, whose roster Connelly built before coming to Minnesota. The Timberwolves defeated the Nuggets in the 2024 NBA playoffs, but this year the Timberwolves faced a Thunder team that eliminated the Nuggets, so it appears that Connelly may have to tweak his roster to deal with the Thunder's speed and defensive pressure, in contrast to the size and physicality that he assembled to attack Denver's big frontcourt.
The Thunder have reached the NBA Finals for the first time since 2012, when their
young Kevin Durant-Russell Westbrook-James Harden trio lost 4-1 to the
Miami Heat's "Big Three" of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh. The Thunder look like a team that could be a contender for several years, but the 2012 Thunder represent a cautionary tale (and a tale that should be heeded by Edwards as well): that group never reached the NBA Finals again, with Harden fleeing for Houston after the 2012 NBA Finals run and then Durant joining Golden State's powerhouse team in 2016.
Labels: Alex Caruso, Anthony Edwards, Jalen Williams, Julius Randle, Minnesota Timberwolves, Oklahoma City Thunder, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
posted by David Friedman @ 11:49 AM
Oklahoma City Versus Minnesota Preview
Western Conference Finals
#1 Oklahoma City (68-14) vs. #6 Minnesota (49-33)
Season series: Tied, 2-2
Minnesota can win if… Anthony Edwards is the best player in the series, if the Timberwolves control the paint, and if the Timberwolves are not careless with the ball.
Edwards averaged a team-high 26.2 ppg, 7.6 rpg (second on the team), and 5.6 apg (second on the team) in Minnesota's 4-1 second round series win versus the Golden State Warriors. Julius Randle also had an outstanding series versus the Warriors, leading the team in assists (7.4 apg) while ranking second in scoring (25.2 ppg) and third in rebounding (6.6 rpg). A lot of nonsense is spouted about why the Timberwolves should reduce Rudy Gobert's role, but Gobert dominated the paint against the Warriors, averaging 9.6 ppg on .643 field goal shooting while leading Minnesota in rebounding (9.4 rpg) and blocked shots (1.8 bpg).
The Timberwolves are a big, physical team, so it is not surprising that
they rank second in the playoffs in points allowed (101.1 ppg) and
fourth in defensive field goal percentage (.433). Gobert anchors the defense in the paint, while Jaden McDaniels is a stopper on the wing. Donte DiVincenzo (team-high 1.7 spg in the playoffs) and Edwards are good defenders, and veteran point guard Mike Conley is a savvy player at both ends of the court.
The Timberwolves reached the Western Conference Finals last year by knocking off the defending NBA champion Denver Nuggets,
so it should not be surprising that they are in the Western Conference
Finals again--but they had a .500 record (17-17) on January 4, and that
sluggish start may have made a lasting impression on commentators even
though the Timberwolves went 8-1 to end the season. I count myself among those who underestimated them before the playoffs began.
They have committed the fifth most turnovers per game (14.8) among this year's 16 playoff teams; the four teams that committed more turnovers per game--Memphis, Detroit, Miami, and Denver--have been eliminated, with all but Denver losing in the first round. Poor decision making in general and careless ballhandling in particular are two major areas of concern for Minnesota. The Timberwolves rank fourth in playoff field goal percentage (.465) and sixth in scoring (108.2 ppg), so when they take care of the ball they score very efficiently.
Oklahoma City will win because…the Thunder are more talented, deeper, more athletic, and more efficient.
The skepticism about the Thunder is increasingly difficult to understand: they have a great player who is unselfish and plays at a high level on offense and on defense, they have a talented and well-balanced starting lineup, and they may have the league's deepest bench. They posted one of the best regular season records in NBA history (68-14) and set the all-time record for point differential (12.9 ppg), breaking a mark (12.3 ppg) held by the legendary 1971-72 L.A. Lakers team that featured Hall of Famers Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West, and Gail Goodrich.
The Denver Nuggets fought valiantly to push the Thunder to seven games in the second round, but the
Thunder overwhelmed the Nuggets 125-93 in game seven. During that series, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder in minutes (37.6 mpg), scoring (29.7 ppg), and assists (6.6 apg) while also averaging 6.4 rpg (third on the team), 1.6 spg (tied for second on the team), and .6 bpg (tied for fourth on the team). His shooting splits were .529/.333/.825. Last season, he finished second in regular season MVP voting to three-time MVP Nikola Jokic, and it is reasonable to believe that he will finish first ahead of Jokic this season. Gilgeous-Alexander is not flashy--his game does not feature an abundance of dunks, three pointers, or fancy moves--but his game is brutally efficient and fundamentally sound at both ends of the court. The Thunder appear to have exquisite team chemistry, and as the team's best player and unquestioned leader Gilgeous-Alexander deserves a lot of credit for that.
In 2025, Jalen Williams made the All-Star team for the first time, and he set career-highs in scoring (21.6 ppg), rebounding (5.3 rpg), and assists (5.1 apg). He has been inconsistent during the playoffs, with scoring totals ranging from 6 to 32, but overall he has been productive, ranking second on the team in scoring (19.6 ppg) and assists (5.7 apg) while ranking fourth in rebounding (5.4 rpg). The Thunder will need for him to score 20-plus ppg versus the Timberwolves.
The rail-thin Chet Holmgren is the Thunder's third leading playoff scorer (15.7 ppg), and he leads the team in rebounding (9.7 rpg) and blocked shots (2.2 bpg). The big and rugged Isaiah Hartenstein leads the team in playoff field goal percentage (.605) while also ranking second in rebounding (8.7 rpg) and fourth in assists (2.8 apg); he is not only a lob threat at the rim but he can also run the offense at times from the high post, passing to cutters.
Alex Caruso is the Thunder's oldest player (31 years old) and the only player on the team with championship experience. He is a feisty and smart defensive player who leads the team in playoff steals (1.8 spg) while also shooting .417 from three point range. His scrappy post defense versus Jokic in game seven contributed to the Thunder run that broke the game open.
Other things to consider: In my 2024 Western Conference Finals Preview, I praised the way that the Timberwolves constructed their team:
While other franchises try to "tank to the top" or assemble "super teams," the Timberwolves built their roster organically. Tim
Connelly, who laid the foundation of the Denver Nuggets' championship
success before becoming Minnesota's President of Basketball Operations, assembled the Timberwolves' roster with the understanding that size matters in the NBA at both ends of the court. "Stat gurus" mocked Connelly's trade for
Rudy Gobert, but Connelly did not panic after the Timberwolves lost 4-1
to the Denver Nuggets in the 2023 playoffs. Connelly ignored the noise
about Gobert being unplayable in today's "pace and space" NBA--noise
that could still be heard during the second round of this year's
playoffs before the Timberwolves won games six and seven to send the
Nuggets home for the summer.
In contrast, the Thunder tanked for two seasons (2020-22). Historically, it has been proven that tanking does not work, so if the Thunder cap their tremendous season with a championship then they will be the first NBA team to "tank to the top" (the premature and inaccurate description applied to Philadelphia's disastrous tanking)--but what the Thunder did differs from what most other tanking teams did because the Thunder did not embrace tanking and denied (and still deny) that they ever tanked; it could be argued that this is a distinction without a difference, but one of the problems with tanking is that it infects a franchise with a losing culture by accepting the notion that trying to win every game does not matter. The 76ers embraced what they called "The Process," and their franchise still displays a losing mentality on and off of the court, as demonstrated by--among other things--load management, and key players not being in peak condition. In contrast, the Thunder made personnel moves that strongly suggested that they were tanking but those moves could also be interpreted as their attempt to build the best roster around budding young star Gilgeous-Alexander. There is no doubt that Coach Mark Daigneault has cultivated a winning culture, and it appears that he started doing so from day one, even when he was saddled with a roster that was not capable of winning very much.
Hopefully, if the Thunder win an NBA title this will not be considered a justification of tanking, because tanking cheats paying fans while demeaning and diminishing the value of competition. The NBA was much better when load management and tanking did not exist.
Regardless of how one feels about how the Thunder assembled their team, there is no denying how strong this team is, nor is there any denying that the Thunder have the edge in this matchup in the most relevant categories: the Thunder have the best player in the series (if not the entire league), they have a better offense, they led the NBA in defensive field goal percentage during the regular season and during the playoffs, and they have enough size to match up with any team.
Oklahoma City will defeat Minnesota in six games.
Labels: Alex Caruso, Anthony Edwards, Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams, Julius Randle, Minnesota Timberwolves, Oklahama City Thunder, Rudy Gobert, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
posted by David Friedman @ 8:46 PM
Thunder Crush Nuggets 125-93, Advance to Western Conference Finals
The Denver Nuggets won game six at home to push the Oklahoma City Thunder to the brink, but the Thunder dominated game seven, 125-93, to advance to the Western Conference Finals for the first time since 2016. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander authored another exceptional performance, pouring in a game-high 35 points (just three short of his playoff career-high) on 12-19 field goal shooting while dishing out four assists. Jalen Williams, who struggled for significant portions of this series, scored 24 points and passed for a game-high tying seven assists. Chet Holmgren added 13 points and a game-high tying 11 rebounds. Alex Caruso chipped in 11 points on 5-7 field goal shooting, but his game-high +40 plus/minus number hints at the large impact that he had beyond the boxscore numbers: he was a menace as an on-ball defender versus Denver's perimeter players, he swarmed the passing lanes as a help defender, and on several possessions he even guarded Nikola Jokic one on one.
Jokic had a solid game by normal human standards--20 points, nine rebounds, game-high tying seven assists--but the Thunder's suffocating defense shut down his teammates without giving him the space to do much damage as a scorer. Jokic had a game-high five turnovers, and it often looked like the
Thunder had an extra defensive player on the court; the Nuggets
struggled to complete a pass, and they shot just 33-84 (.393) from the field, including 10-45 (.222) from three point range. Christian Braun scored 19 points on 7-14 field goal shooting. Aaron Gordon limped through a grade two hamstring strain--Jokic said that he told Gordon to not play because he risked making the injury even more serious--to finish with eight points and a game-high tying 11 rebounds. Jamal Murry had just 13 points on 6-16 field goal shooting. No other Nugget scored more than six points, and it is worth noting that Gilgeous-Alexander outscored the Nuggets' top two players--Jokic and Murray--by himself.
Russell Westbrook is the eighth highest paid Nugget ($3.3 million, the minimum salary for a 10 year veteran), but the "experts" and the
social media crowd will no doubt find some way to pin the loss on him.
I've never heard of a team's eighth highest paid player being the
deciding factor between winning and losing as the fourth seeded team versus a dominant top seeded 68 win
team, but ridiculous anti-Westbrook narratives have become standard fare
in NBA circles. For the series, Westbrook ranked fifth on the team in scoring (9.9 ppg), eighth in rebounds (2.7 rpg), sixth in minutes played (22.7 mpg), and tied for fourth in assists (2.4 apg). He has always been a rhythm player who is used to having the ball in his hands, so those numbers are in line with his role and his salary slot. His shooting splits (.348/.219/.696) were poor, but only three Nuggets who played rotation minutes shot better than .440 from the field (Nikola Jokic, Julian Strawther, Aaron Gordon) so the Thunder deserve credit for shutting down the Nuggets' offense. Westbrook averaged 11.7 ppg in the 2025 playoffs (fifth on the team) while contributing 2.6 apg (fourth), 3.7 rpg (sixth) and .9 spg (fourth) with .391/.317/.700 shooting splits. Westbrook has a player option for $3.5 million next season, and it is unlikely that the cash-strapped Nuggets can find a more productive player at that price.
The Thunder outscored the Nuggets 64-42 in the paint, 27-14 on the fast break, and 37-7 in points off of turnovers. The Nuggets jumped out to a 21-10 lead at the 5:31 mark of the first quarter before the Thunder reeled them in and then ran them into the ground; the Thunder ended the second quarter with a 28-14 run to take a 60-46 halftime lead, and the Thunder opened the third quarter by outscoring the Nuggets 21-12 to end all resistance. The Thunder pushed the margin as high as 43 points late in the fourth quarter, and the outcome was never in doubt throughout the second half.
The Nuggets used their size to dominate the paint in a 121-119 game one win to seize homecourt advantage, and the Nuggets led the series 2-1 after prevailing 113-104 in game three but, as is usually the case in a seven game series, the team with the most matchup advantages prevailed. I picked the Thunder to win in six games because I expected that the Thunder's "suffocating defense will rule the day," and even though it took the Thunder seven games instead of six the seventh game highlighted the huge gap between these teams: the Thunder have the right personnel and game plan to at least contain Jokic at times, while the Nuggets can barely run a functioning halfcourt offense versus the Thunder's relentless pressure. ESPN's Scott Van Pelt often referred to the Thunder as a "wagon" during the regular season, but in game seven the Thunder looked like a high speed train racing past a broken down jalopy.
Labels: Aaron Gordon, Alex Caruso, Denver Nuggets, Jalen Williams, Jamal Murray, Nikola Jokic, Oklahoma City Thunder, Russell Westbrook, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
posted by David Friedman @ 8:40 AM
