OKLAHOMA CITY — Aaron Gordon was the personification of his team’s postseason, standing resolute at the top of the key, smiling even while he drained warm-up shots. The Nuggets willed themselves to this Game 7, and Gordon was going to will himself to play in it on one leg.
Resilience and toughness were not enough to overcome a team 18 wins better than Denver. Maybe for six games. Not a seventh.
With a 125-93 loss to an emergent Oklahoma City Thunder juggernaut on Sunday, the Nuggets’ 2024-25 season ended at the same juncture as last year: Game 7 of the Western Conference semifinals.
This time was different. The Timberwolves crashed Denver’s repeat party in 2024. The Nuggets were trying to interrupt Oklahoma City’s arrival in 2025. And they nearly did, until the last three quarters of the series. They led 21-10 eight minutes into the winner-take-all game. Allegations of inexperience confronted the Thunder once again. Oklahoma City responded by hammering its challenger. The Nuggets were valiant but ultimately not worthy.
Their second- and third-leading scorers fell short of their potential. Jamal Murray’s gutsy series arrived at a sour ending, with 13 points and two assists on 6 of 16 shooting. Michael Porter Jr.’s shoulder armor for a sprained AC joint was stripped down to bandaging, but he couldn’t come close on a 3-pointer. His wobbly, injury-stamped playoffs finished with a 3-for-8, six-point performance.
The team shot 39.8% from the field and 22.7% from 3-point range with 22 turnovers. Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led all scorers with 35 points.
Gordon gave Denver life, playing through a strained hamstring three days after suffering the injury late in Game 6. To avoid running the floor, he slinked back to the defensive end and set up a stance early whenever a teammate got to the foul line. Ginger in his movements, he still compiled eight points and 11 rebounds in 24 minutes.
“That’s who he is,” Adelman said. “There’s a real toughness there.”
Gordon’s willingness to sacrifice will endure in Denver. But the defining moments that will endure from Game 7 involved the Thunder moving at high speed. Cason Wallace flying around Nikola Jokic and plastering the reigning MVP on a poster. Alex Caruso pickpocketing Jokic and dishing a behind-the-back pass to the trailing SGA in transition. Jalen Williams sailing to easy fast-break points during a Thunder-storm of steals late in the first half. Caruso potting a dunk, then head-butting the ball with glee.
Jokic amassed 20 points, nine rebounds and seven assists before interim coach David Adelman pulled the starters with nine minutes remaining.
The superstar center also turned the ball over fives times, as Oklahoma City coach Mark Daigneault pestered him with one last adjustment. After six games of general resistance to small-ball, the Thunder played lineups with only one big man on the floor at a time, fronting Jokic with the 6-foot-5, 186-pound Caruso.
If Jokic ever felt discomforted by the hostile environment in his first-ever road Game 7, Caruso tried to lift his spirits by wrapping him in a constant hug.
Caruso was one of the best players in the series, and it was fitting that he did his damage off Oklahoma City’s bench. The Nuggets’ depth haunted them. Their bench was outscored in every game of the series. In the finale, Russell Westbrook was a minus-34 in 21 minutes. Peyton Watson went 1 for 8 from the floor. Any attempt at substitutions immediately backfired on Adelman.
While Oklahoma City advances to a Western Conference Finals matchup with the Minnesota Timberwolves, Denver enters its offseason needing to hire a new head coach and general manager. Michael Malone and Calvin Booth lost their jobs with three games left in the regular season.
Adelman filled Malone’s shoes and led an admirable playoff run under the circumstances, knocking out the red-hot Clippers in the first round and building a strong case for the full-time role.
But the last memory of an unusual season remains that of a hobbled team limping off the floor in Oklahoma City.
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Originally Published: May 18, 2025 at 4:07 PM MDT