2025 NBA PLAYOFFS West Semifinals: #1 Oklahoma City Thunder vs #4 Denver Nuggets (DEN leads 1-0)

[atlantabbq99]

Chet is a bust. Nuggets didn't even shoot well, If Denver just protects the ball better, it would have been a blowout. This will be a short series for the Nuggets.

[Raps in 4]

The idea that Chet could contain Jokic is comical. Jokic is literally like twice his weight. And although Hartenstein is big, he can't match Jokic's skill.

I wasn't expecting anyone to stop Jokic, but I wasn't expecting Denver to stop OKC's players either.

Slightly over 200lbs at 7'1 is nuts. There a fast break last night where Westbrook also bodied his skinny ass.

Chets gotta really hit the weight room and start eating this offseason. I could easily see that being one of the major takeaways if OKC falls short.

I wonder what Chet’s diet is like. Does the guy only eat one meal a day or something?

He probably has a fast metabololism and I don't think his frame can handle more weight. It's why I said he can't play C against real bigs when he entered the league. Same with Wemby. These guys have the KD body type.

[Patches Perry]

OKC was on cruise control the entire game and didnt see the intensity flip. Denver is a level below outside of Jokic but seem to have a really on the ball HC. I dont think Denver wins another game in the series tbh.

I mentioned this before the playoffs but this is a vulnerability of this OKC team. They're something of a victim of their own success and as a result they've played very few close games this season. Another poster compiled some data and determined they only played 6 close games all season. I'll find the thread if I can.

Cruise control has been their normal and so these close tense games are a bit foreign to them.

[Drakeem]

I said this in another thread just now, but we gotta stop using the "young and inexperienced" card for OKC. They had last year to learn from and bolstered their team with iHart and Caruso. Shai is the MVP of the league and he has a solid second option and a variety of players to play off of. Their defense is arguably best in the league as well.

If they lose they should be embarrassed.

[Los_29]

It's crazy how bad OKC's strategy was down the stretch. They were fouling so quick before as soon as the ball got inbounds no time was going off the clock...... really extended the game long enough for Denver to win it. OKC got out coached and outsmarted down the stretch.... they literally could have played defense and forced Denver to have to go get 3 with Jokic watching on the sideline and instead an immediate foul.

Also, look at how all of Denver was celebrating after that win and Jokic just calmly walks off the court. He's all business and knows its far from over. His last two minutes getting his defender switched SGA and Caruso and just going right at them and over top of them... and then scoring a three right on Hartenstein because he knows that Hartenstein has to play a step back to not get beat off the dribble.... just an incredible close to a game by the best player in the game right now. Masterclass by Jokic in game 1.

Definitely some revisionism in there. Jokic missed two huge threes in crunch time. Got bailed out by OKC making mistake after mistake. He had a great game, but he also made missteps.

Jokic was unbelievable. I don’t remember him missing any threes in crunch time. He made one with about a minute left and another one with about 6 minutes left. In the last 5 minutes, he cashed in his free throws, rebounded well, drilled a three. He was a force.

What threes were you referring to?

[Revived]

Read on Twitter

Lol of course media makes it about LeBron.

[lessthanjake]

It's crazy how bad OKC's strategy was down the stretch. They were fouling so quick before as soon as the ball got inbounds no time was going off the clock...... really extended the game long enough for Denver to win it. OKC got out coached and outsmarted down the stretch.... they literally could have played defense and forced Denver to have to go get 3 with Jokic watching on the sideline and instead an immediate foul.

Also, look at how all of Denver was celebrating after that win and Jokic just calmly walks off the court. He's all business and knows its far from over. His last two minutes getting his defender switched SGA and Caruso and just going right at them and over top of them... and then scoring a three right on Hartenstein because he knows that Hartenstein has to play a step back to not get beat off the dribble.... just an incredible close to a game by the best player in the game right now. Masterclass by Jokic in game 1.

Definitely some revisionism in there. Jokic missed two huge threes in crunch time. Got bailed out by OKC making mistake after mistake. He had a great game, but he also made missteps.

Jokic was unbelievable. I don’t remember him missing any threes in crunch time. He made one with about a minute left and another one with about 6 minutes left. In the last 5 minutes, he cashed in his free throws, rebounded well, drilled a three. He was a force.

What threes were you referring to?

Yeah, that post you’re responding to was just factually inaccurate. Jokic did miss one three in the fourth quarter, with 9:28 left in the game. That’s it. He didn’t miss two threes in the entire fourth quarter, let alone “two huge threes in crunch time.” Even the three he missed wasn’t exactly in “crunch time” since there was almost 10 minutes left in the game. And, overall, in the fourth quarter, Jokic had 18 points on 86% TS%.

[Walton the GOAT]

I want Denver to win, as a Jokic stan, and to see what dumb overpayment OKC will shell out for Zubac

[Los_29]

Definitely some revisionism in there. Jokic missed two huge threes in crunch time. Got bailed out by OKC making mistake after mistake. He had a great game, but he also made missteps.

Jokic was unbelievable. I don’t remember him missing any threes in crunch time. He made one with about a minute left and another one with about 6 minutes left. In the last 5 minutes, he cashed in his free throws, rebounded well, drilled a three. He was a force.

What threes were you referring to?

Yeah, that post you’re responding to was just factually inaccurate. Jokic did miss one three in the fourth quarter, with 9:28 left in the game. That’s it. He didn’t miss two threes in the entire fourth quarter, let alone “two huge threes in crunch time.” Even the three he missed wasn’t exactly in “crunch time” since there was almost 10 minutes left in the game. And, overall, in the fourth quarter, Jokic had 18 points on 86% TS%.

Yeah exactly. I thought I watched the wrong game. He was incredible and the numbers back it up.

[Mamba Mentality]

Slightly over 200lbs at 7'1 is nuts. There a fast break last night where Westbrook also bodied his skinny ass.

Chets gotta really hit the weight room and start eating this offseason. I could easily see that being one of the major takeaways if OKC falls short.

I wonder what Chet’s diet is like. Does the guy only eat one meal a day or something?

He probably has a fast meanolism and I don't think his frame can handle more weight. It's why I said he can't play C against real bigs when he entered the league. Same with Wemby. These guys have the KD body type.

KD and KG were stringbeans when he came into the league, but worked their way up to 240lbs and were "basketball strong". Chet is listed at a very generous 213lbs, and that's after supposedly putting on 15lbs his rookie season. Based on that, I think he's capable of putting on the weight just needs to take an offseason or two serious. From a durability standpoint I don't think he has much of a choice, he's going to keep getting tossed around like a ragdoll until he gets his weight up. Should be hovering around 230-240 imo.

[MoneyTalks41890]

Jokic was unbelievable. I don’t remember him missing any threes in crunch time. He made one with about a minute left and another one with about 6 minutes left. In the last 5 minutes, he cashed in his free throws, rebounded well, drilled a three. He was a force.

What threes were you referring to?

Yeah, that post you’re responding to was just factually inaccurate. Jokic did miss one three in the fourth quarter, with 9:28 left in the game. That’s it. He didn’t miss two threes in the entire fourth quarter, let alone “two huge threes in crunch time.” Even the three he missed wasn’t exactly in “crunch time” since there was almost 10 minutes left in the game. And, overall, in the fourth quarter, Jokic had 18 points on 86% TS%.

Yeah exactly. I thought I watched the wrong game. He was incredible and the numbers back it up.

Yeah that was my bad it was the 14 footer and the 3 with like 10 minutes left. It felt later in the game than that.

[MoneyTalks41890]

I said this in another thread just now, but we gotta stop using the "young and inexperienced" card for OKC. They had last year to learn from and bolstered their team with iHart and Caruso. Shai is the MVP of the league and he has a solid second option and a variety of players to play off of. Their defense is arguably best in the league as well.

If they lose they should be embarrassed.

They aren't going to lose.

[BlazersBroncos]

I said this in another thread just now, but we gotta stop using the "young and inexperienced" card for OKC. They had last year to learn from and bolstered their team with iHart and Caruso. Shai is the MVP of the league and he has a solid second option and a variety of players to play off of. Their defense is arguably best in the league as well.

If they lose they should be embarrassed.

They aren't going to lose.

I dont think they lose the series either but no one should be confident in their win. This wont be a cake walk. DEN has the best player in the world, much more playoff experience and play quite a bit bigger than OKC.

Its much closer than many think.

[Dadouv47]

I said this in another thread just now, but we gotta stop using the "young and inexperienced" card for OKC. They had last year to learn from and bolstered their team with iHart and Caruso. Shai is the MVP of the league and he has a solid second option and a variety of players to play off of. Their defense is arguably best in the league as well.

If they lose they should be embarrassed.

They aren't going to lose.

don't know how you are still so much confident (Vegas still is too so you are on the majority). Hope you end up being right of course

[___Rand___]

Man! Denver could've won with that last possession. That would be a shocker.

What I said is still true. The win was a SHOCKER!

Of course OKC can choke again like they did last night. 75% FT shooter missing BOTH free throws; their coach giving Nuggets all the time in the world with constant fouling at the end. I give credits to Nuggets for never quitting. OKC may choke again and Nuggets could still be gifted a ride to the WCF. Now wouldn't that be something.

[___Rand___]

Where was the defense that was suppose to contain Jokic that I kept reading about all season that would make a statement?

The idea that Chet could contain Jokic is comical. Jokic is literally like twice his weight. And although Hartenstein is big, he can't match Jokic's skill.

I wasn't expecting anyone to stop Jokic, but I wasn't expecting Denver to stop OKC's players either.

Slightly over 200lbs at 7'1 is nuts. There a fast break last night where Westbrook also bodied his skinny ass.

Chets gotta really hit the weight room and start eating this offseason. I could easily see that being one of the major takeaways if OKC falls short.

Chet being a choker is the bigger problem here. He's choking on air. How's he going to put down real food?

[MoneyTalks41890]

I said this in another thread just now, but we gotta stop using the "young and inexperienced" card for OKC. They had last year to learn from and bolstered their team with iHart and Caruso. Shai is the MVP of the league and he has a solid second option and a variety of players to play off of. Their defense is arguably best in the league as well.

If they lose they should be embarrassed.

They aren't going to lose.

I dont think they lose the series either but no one should be confident in their win. This wont be a cake walk. DEN has the best player in the world, much more playoff experience and play quite a bit bigger than OKC.

Its much closer than many think.

I’m not saying it’s not close.

But I have confidence that JDub and Chet will play better on offense, and that OKC won’t make so many uncharacteristic mistakes.

[Patches Perry]

I said this in another thread just now, but we gotta stop using the "young and inexperienced" card for OKC. They had last year to learn from and bolstered their team with iHart and Caruso. Shai is the MVP of the league and he has a solid second option and a variety of players to play off of. Their defense is arguably best in the league as well.

If they lose they should be embarrassed.

They aren't going to lose.

don't know how you are still so much confident (Vegas still is too so you are on the majority). Hope you end up being right of course

The fact that the line (-11.5) hasn't moved means despite all the fraud and choking talk means people still aren't really buying the Nuggets over OKC yet. Vegas and people with skin in the game still view this as the most lopsided series of the 4. Whether that proves to be fatal, only time will tell.

For reference:
Cleveland is currently at -8.5 against Indiana tonight
Boston' is currently at -10.5 against NYK for game 2

[stoo]

I said this in another thread just now, but we gotta stop using the "young and inexperienced" card for OKC. They had last year to learn from and bolstered their team with iHart and Caruso. Shai is the MVP of the league and he has a solid second option and a variety of players to play off of. Their defense is arguably best in the league as well.

If they lose they should be embarrassed.

there is literally not a single thing that makes losing to the Nuggets embarrassing

[Exp0sed]

My hot take here is that Shai actually had a really good game, it just wasn’t up to his standards.

8 assists to one turnover, good defense.

He needs help on offense and the young guns didn’t have it.

I still think OKC wins that without 7, too much went wrong for OKC that won’t continue to imo.

why wasn't it up to his standards? he had 10 rebs and 8 assists, both are well above his season avg and he scored at about his average at about his avg efficiency. he had a great game (which is a normal game by his standards), just lacked the leadership. didn't put the team on his back when it mattered, during that late game implosion but other than that a heck of a game

J-Dub and Chet missed shots they usually make and both had to expend alot of energy and focus on defending Jokic. not like the Nuggets played some great defense, the Thunder supporting cast missed very makeable shots, most of which were wide open

Got to make some excuses why their team lost. I think this is the Denial faze of the 7 stages of greif.

maybe..

they lost because they didn't have control of the game in that final stretch, Mark D chose a really dumbfounding strategy and they even got to the point where it mattered because the Nuggets killed them on the glass