OKC storms past Denver to reach West finals

OKLAHOMA City Thunder asserted their dominance for a 125-93 rout against Denver Nuggets in the do-or-die Game 7 of NBA Western Conference semifinals on Sunday night (Monday in the Philippines) at the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander spearheaded the offense with 35 points, including three outside conversions, to go with four assists, three rebounds, three steals, and a block as the Thunder wrapped up the best-of-seven series at 4-3.

Jalen Williams added 24 markers, Chet Holmgren had a double-double of 13 points and 11 rebounds, while Alex Caruso and Isaiah Hartenstein tallied 11 and 10 points, respectively, for OKC.

The win sends the Thunder into a showdown with Anthony Edwards and Minnesota Timberwolves in the NBA Western Conference Finals beginning on Tuesday (Wednesday in the Philippines).

“It feels good,” Gilgeous-Alexander said in a post-game interview. “Obviously our ultimate goal isn’t just the Western Conference finals — but we’ve got to go through there to get there.

“We put it together tonight and now we’ve got four games to go get against a really good team in the Timberwolves and that’s we’re focused on,” added the Season MVP award frontrunner.

The Nuggets started strong as they seized an early 11-point advantage midway through the first quarter at 21-10 after a three-point play by Aaron Gordon, but the Thunder managed to cut it to 21-26.

But the game flipped decisively in the second quarter as Oklahoma City unleashed the full force, outscoring Denver, 39-20, to establish a 60-46 halftime lead following a basket from Williams.

Oklahoma City picked up where they left off in the second quarter as they widened the advantage to 97-72 before it reached its largest at 43 points at 125-82 after a conversion by Kenrich Williams.

Nikola Jokic finished with 20 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, Christian Braun and Jamal Murray added 19 and 13 markers, respectively, while Gordon played through a hamstring injury to end up with eight points and 11 boards./PN

BOX SCORE:

OKLAHOMA CITY 125 — Gilgeous-Alexander 35, Jal. Williams 24, Holmgren 13, Caruso 11, Hartenstein 10, Wiggins 8, Wallace 7, Dort 6, Mitchell 5, Joe 5, K. Williams 1, Jay. Williams 0, Dieng 0, Jones 0.

DENVER 93 — Jokic 20, Braun 19, Murray 13, Gordon 8, Porter 6, Westbrook 6, Strawther 6, Pickett 6, Tyson 5, Watson 4, Nnaji 0.

Quarterscores: 21-26, 60-46, 97-72, 125-93.