2025 NBA PLAYOFFS West Semifinals: #1 Oklahoma City Thunder vs #4 Denver Nuggets (DEN leads 2-1)

[Johnny Firpo]

Never would have thought Denver can win a game against OKC where Jokic misses so many shots. Their defense (including his) was really good in this game.

For me Dallas trading Luka it’s still a bigger surprise this season

Okay?

[Wolfgang630]

Game 4 is Sunday at 3:30 pm. Who made this schedule. They make okc and Denver have a short turnaround from game 3 to 4. Beyond dumb from the nba.

[KGDirkTD_Fan]

I've convinced myself this is probably OKC or Bostons year and over the course of a week I'm willing to believe anything. Denver being up 2-1 is insane to me.

The Nuggets beating a 68 win Thunder team is more believable than Id want to think. This season has been weird, you have #2 seed that didn't have a functional offense in the playoffs and a #3 seed that needed superhuman performance from 40 year old Bron to beat an Ant/Randle iso offense.

Would it be that crazy for the Nuggets to beat them? Well yes beating a 68 win team is nuts but I just have a feeling one of the Boston, OKC, Cleveland is going to lose and I don't know which...the Thunder has to be the better of the three but probably is playing the most dangerous of the three opponents (NY, Indy, Denver).

[-Luke-]

Does the board's opinion change on this after every game?

I see you're sort of new, they/we do this every game with every team and player

Lol but I've been lurking here for a while

Sometimes we even change our opinions multiple times within a single game. A player can be an historic bum in the first quarter and the GOAT in the fourth.

[dhsilv2]

The team despite the win still only really used 2 bench players in an OT game. Neither were stand outs, though I do love Westbrook's energy vs the thunder.

MPJ has been terrible all playoffs, so great he had a nice game. But again he's been terrible. He doesn't need more love.

Gordon gets plenty of credit.

Braun is a solid glue guy and seemingly is well liked.

All that's left is Murray who correctly gets criticized for being inconsistent as hell. We all agree when he's on he's a star, but that doesn't happen enough.

Are we really saying the non-Jokic players weren't superb tonight? Give credit where it was due, this feels like yet another iteration of people down playing Jokic teammate contributions.

No we're not. But having a great game doesn't mean you're great players. We shouldn't change our minds about who these guys are because they had a great game.

But lets remember, he doesn't have Pippen and Grant, doesn't have Kobe or Wade, he doesn't have Pierce and Ray Allen, he doesn't have Dray and Klay, or so on. He had Godron and Murray...they're solid contributors who can have big games.

[HotRocks34]

Game 4 is Sunday at 3:30 pm. Who made this schedule. They make okc and Denver have a short turnaround from game 3 to 4. Beyond dumb from the nba.

And there hasn't been a single extra day yet.

[SlimShady83]

I see you're sort of new, they/we do this every game with every team and player

Lol but I've been lurking here for a while

Sometimes we even change our opinions multiple times within a single game. A player can be an historic bum in the first quarter and the GOAT in the fourth.

Every lead change every team LOL

[KP Duty]

This is easily the best playoffs ever. Hockey and basketball are both the best they’ve ever been by a mile.

Colin Cowterd was saying this on his show today...that the playoffs were like a gift from god. Also said it was the most physical playoffs that he could remember...or something like e that.

[LeBronSpaghetti]

Have to think Jokic will shoot a lot better in game 4. But he needs a bit of a mentality change in my opinion. He’s getting really emotional about everything. Just lock in and focus on what you can control.

[Castle Black]

These people are nuts. Series, not games, make a legacy.

The series is over. No way OKC recovers from this.

Sarcasm? This same thing was said after game one as well and we saw how OKC recovered.

Pretty sure he's trying to reverse jinx cause it's such an absurd statement that there's no way he's serious.

[Wolfgang630]

Good news for Denver is Jokic found his shot in the overtime lol

[HotRocks34]

Denver is now 4-3 against the Thunder so far this season.

[Woodsanity]

Like i said before game 2 blowout meant nothing. The 50 points didnt carry over

[WarriorGM]

Sounds like someone got caught out believing the narrative.

[Revived]

I’m not a Nuggets fan and have zero connection to Serbia or Colorado yet I think it’s funny how a guy like Jokic gets so many haters.

In my time watching basketball, him and Steph Curry are the two out of all the “elite/legendary players” who play basketball the right way, aren’t overly obnoxious and are genuinely likable players.

Are Nuggets fans super intolerable or something? Is that why people are waiting to see Jokic fail?

[DonaldSanders]

No we're not. But having a great game doesn't mean you're great players. We shouldn't change our minds about who these guys are because they had a great game.

But lets remember, he doesn't have Pippen and Grant, doesn't have Kobe or Wade, he doesn't have Pierce and Ray Allen, he doesn't have Dray and Klay, or so on. He had Godron and Murray...they're solid contributors who can have big games.

Yeah but your comments are clearly downplaying them. You didn't even say anything about how great they were tonight in that post!

And I still think you underrate AG and Jamal, and Jamal gets the most underrated. He's a great scorer, and is a ball handler who puts pressure on the defense, something that I think is especially important against the best defenses like OKC.

Murray career playoffs 56.8 TS% 23.9 PPG 6.1 AST
50pt games: 2
40pt games: 4
30pt games: 13

Thompson career playoffs 55.5 TS% 19.2 PPG 2.2 AST (defensive edge of course, but Jamal ain't bad)
50pt games: 0
40pt games: 1
30pt games: 16

Now, would I take Dray and Klay over Jamal/AG? Absolutely, most people would. But I don't think those two are as far off as a lot think. This playoffs AG has hit so many big shots while playing great defense... the carry like a Jokic needs guys who can be clutch because their presence alone can keep it close, and I think everyone knows Jamal and AG are clutch at this point. That's what's fun about the Nuggets, they always seem like they are in it because if you just keep it close they have a great chance of finding a way as a team.

Just watching them over the past few years, I think the Nuggets have a good core. The might not be able to win this year, but I don't think they need that much to win another chip. I just hope for their sake they don't panic in the off-season if they come up short.

[Revived]

Read on Twitter

[turnaroundJ]

Have to think Jokic will shoot a lot better in game 4. But he needs a bit of a mentality change in my opinion. He’s getting really emotional about everything. Just lock in and focus on what you can control.

i think he's taking on too much responsibility. looks like he feels the need to be the coach, the emotional leader, the best player, the motivator, the disciplinarian that's just way too much man let the staff help out at least

[HotRocks34]

Big respect to David Adelman.

[threethehardway]

Jokic's teammates are painfully average when compared to other championship squads in NBA history.

Let's put it this way, the KD-Russ-Harden team that went to the Finals would probably sweep them.

The ceiling of the Nuggets is low and the floor is mid.