OKLAHOMA CITY — The best part about covering NBA basketball in the plains is the courtside seat.
If you’re lucky enough to win the press row lottery for an Oklahoma City game, as was the case for yours truly for this 149-106 Thunder rout over the Denver Nuggets in Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals on Wednesday night, then you sit so close that you can see the kinds of details that typically require a VR headset to enjoy these days. Or a few thousand bucks for a ticket.
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You witness the way that Nikola Jokić’s brow furrows with disgust like it did so often when his Nuggets were being run off the floor in the first half, or how he meticulously removes his mouthguard — while in a full sprint — so he can yell at an official while still getting back on defense (the Nuggets were down 30 at that point, by the way). You see the sense of relief in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s face when his Thunder rediscover their intimidating identity, destroying the Nuggets as if they were a G League team, in large part, because he turned in a stat line that demanded a double-take: 34 points (11 of 13 shooting) in 30 minutes, eight assists, four rebounds and a plus-51 mark. You marvel at the way he moves with such grace and guile.
Gilgeous-Alexander, the 26-year-old who is likely to edge Jokić out for his first MVP award in the coming days or weeks, is like an Energizer bunny who uses all of his high-powered gears. He’s Max Verstappen in Converse sneakers, basically, and he never seems to get tired. Russell Westbrook’s racing style is quite the opposite, of course, with the sight of his heaving chest and heavy breathing during game breaks serving as visual reminders that he only knows one speed. Breakneck.
Even with the one-sided nature of it all, taking it all in from the best seat in the house was the kind of visceral experience that every hoops head should be able to enjoy at least once in their lifetime. To do it during the NBA playoffs, which I haven’t in quite some time, is nothing short of basketball heaven.
But before this beatdown occurred, when tipoff at the PayCom Center was nearing and the basketball world was buzzing because of what had just occurred in Boston, there were two people who hadn’t heard about the New York Knicks’ second consecutive unthinkable comeback: officials Scott Foster and James Williams. There’s no checking your phone for scores when you’re minutes away from clocking in as a ref, with pregame stretching routines to handle and sideline staffers with whom to coordinate.
As such, they were unaware that Jalen Brunson had hit those two free throws to put New York ahead or that Jayson Tatum was blocked on his game-winning attempt. And their reaction to the news — eyes wide open, jaws on the floor sort of stuff — was the best evidence yet that these playoffs have been gloriously dramatic and wildly entertaining to this point. Damn near perfect, really, save for the Cavaliers’ crippling injuries and the Steph Curry hamstring strain that no one wanted to see.
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Even the folks calling the games can’t believe what they’re seeing.
The irony of what came next, of course, is that the Thunder would promptly hit the pause button on all the script-flipping that has been happening at such a historic rate in this postseason. And they did it by reminding the masses that it’s their team — not the Cleveland squad that is down 2-0 to the Indiana Pacers or those shellshocked Boston Celtics — that was far and away the scariest of them all during the regular season.
Lest anyone forgets, Oklahoma City ended the 82-game grind with a point differential of 12.6 that set a new league record while outscoring their opponents by 1,055 points (!) combined along the way. The 1971-72 Lakers — that title team which featured the likes of Jerry West, Gail Goodrich and an aging Wilt Chamberlain — held the previous mark of 12.3.
You never would have known these Thunder were that good in Game 1, when they blew a nine-point lead in the last three minutes while letting their lack of close-game experience bite them in the backside. These are the trials and tribulations of a team that won by double digits an NBA-record 54 times in the regular season. But when the ball went up in Game 2, with the Nuggets having gained so much confidence against Oklahoma City’s league-leading defense in the second half of the opener, it was the Thunder’s booming response on the offensive end that made you wonder how Denver might be able to stay alive in this series after all.
The Thunder, who led 87-56 at halftime while showcasing a group that was third in the league in offensive rating during the season, tied a league record for points in a playoff half while getting 18 points and seven assists from Gilgeous-Alexander (and double-digits scoring from each of the other four starters). The Nuggets, who were carried by Jokić in his mostly-magnificent opener, were an utter disaster defensively on this night when their three-time MVP was as pedestrian as you’ll ever see him in the playoffs. He fouled out late in the third quarter, and finished with 17 points (6 of 16 shooting), eight rebounds, six assists, six turnovers and a minus-36 rating.
Nuggets interim coach David Adelman, who has done such a wonderful job of leading this group since all the upheaval that they all went through last month, put it perfectly after the OKC deed was done.
“We got punked,” he said. “We didn’t play well enough, and they came out with the right intensity, and we didn’t. I thought we let some open shots early in the game affect us — how we played defensively. This is a team that does that.
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“There’s a reason why they have historic plus-minus numbers throughout this season … they put people away. So you’ve got to have a much better start than that. We can’t come out with that kind of mentality. I’m not sitting here tonight talking about the 1-1 (series tie) thing. Not tonight. We’re not going to flush that. We’ve got to be better. We know that.”
“We got punked”
Coach Adelman kept it real after Denver’s Game 2 loss 😅 pic.twitter.com/Kk5PY67Cdc
— NBA TV (@NBATV) May 8, 2025
When the Thunder are at their best like they were in this one, they look like the kind of team that was fully capable of besting the Golden State Warriors’ record for regular season wins (they had 68, coming five short). SGA is a dynamic, generational, metronome talent surrounded by dynamos, from Jalen Williams to Chet Holmgren, Lu Dort, Isaiah Hartenstein and an embarrassment of riches when it comes to role players. And whoever made the choice to put them all in black jerseys for this series should get a raise. It’s like the Nuggets are taking on a band of stormtroopers out there, and they felt the force of the dark side to its fullest extent.
“We pretty much had control of the whole game last game, (but) just didn’t execute down the stretch,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “But just as a group, Xs and Os, intangibles, game plan — we clearly threw the first punch tonight, the first hit. And that’s why we got off to the start we did. It’s just about trying to replicate that, and adjust as they adjust, and become a better team.”
For now, the question of which team is better had been answered in emphatic form.
“I think we were who we can be tonight,” Gilgeous-Alexander continued. “We played to our identity. We were focused. We were confident. We executed the game plan. When we do that, and we check all those boxes, it looks like it did tonight.”
Whether you were sitting courtside, in the nose bleeds, or watching from home, this much was clear: The Thunder are rolling again. And considering the recent plight of the league’s elite, these playoffs — as great as they are already — are even better for it.
(Photo of Jalen Williams and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: Joshua Gateley / Getty Images)
