Tip-off: 2:30pm @ Paycom Center, Oklahoma City | Broadcast: ABC
If the technology holds, we will host a live, official Daily Thunder Game 7 Discord stream. So pile into Brandon Rahbar's Twitter mentions, the comment section, and even a Discord voice channel to unleash your most emotional and unhinged feelings about a game none of us should care this much about.
⚡Nothing Else Matters
The first six games of this series have been at times thrilling, at times harrowing, and relentlessly back-and-forth. How the teams have played against each other matters, and will inform their game plan and execution today as both seek to avoid elimination. But how the Thunder and Nuggests play in this best-of-one game in Loud City is what the season comes down to for both teams.
⚡Prediction: OKC 149 MEM 106
Denver has proved me wrong throughout this series, playing more in line with their championship pedigree than they did all season. Whether Aaron Gordon (almost surely) or Jamal Murray (lol) sit against OKC, or how well megaboss Nikola Jokic and his veteran runningmates play, are among the most significant, potential factors for the game. But that's only if Game 2 was an aberration. I believe the shape of that romp--at home, in desperate need of a win, and in blowout form before the half--was not a mirage, but the same gear we've seen this Thunder team hit all year. They romped to 68 wins, if you can remember the good 'ol days.
The Thunder are the better team with the better two-way MVP. Let's watch Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren, and the deepest team in the league prove that the conference semis are their floor, not their ceiling.