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

[dhsilv2]

You are supposed to look at it over the a large sample size. He has less help than other superstars. This is just true.

That's just false!

He won a championship with this same core lmao

Stop making excuses for the best player in the world.

Not sure what's worse...a knee jerk response after a game. Or going right to "excuses" as a way to dismiss honest discussion.

[HotRocks34]

What stunned me was how rattled OKC looked in OT. I thought Denver would be exhausted and fold but OKC did instead.

Hartenstein hands were shaking, wide open misses on his bread and butter shot...
SGA weny full tunnel vision.

Honestly I was shocked. I thought Denver was gassed.

[metalinguss]

Almost every time I watched a Nuggets regular season game it was a close one. OKC not so much. Not sure who can pull up the stats on who had more close games all season but based on what I’ve seen, the Nuggets are more used to this pressure. Whoever makes it out of this series wins it all IMO.

[RookieStar]

I dont wanna brag... but is someone keepoling receipts to all the posters prediction before this series started?

I was the one saying my brain says OKC in 5 or 6 BUT my heart says Jokic in 6.

Wow...

You said this , I remember

I even thought this guy heart agrees with my brain as I have Nuggets in 6

Hey at least i got a witness in case DEN does this. Lol

[BigGargamel]

Nuggets fans say he has never played with a current All Star. Every other superstar to win a championship has (maybe except Dirk? too lazy right now to look that up).

That is a fact. An easy to look up fact.

Nothing more to really say.

[HotRocks34]

What stunned me was how rattled OKC looked in OT. I thought Denver would be exhausted and fold but OKC did instead.

Exhausted?

Isn’t living and playing on mile high arena shouldn’t be Nuggets advantage ?

Yes but Denver's depth is weak and so guys are playing bigger minutes.

Murray was for sure gassed. But the team toughed it out.

[Infinite Llamas]

Where are the Shai threads?

You know…the current MVP who played lousy and actually LOST the game??

Y’all are wild. Try rubbing a couple brain cells together one day and maybe it’ll result in something resembling an intelligent thought.

[Marvin Martian]

If they fail to get past the second round, with perhaps the best regular season of all time, it is absolutely time to panic. And I say this as someone who thinks people overreact way too often.

Sounds very prisoner of the moment.

I remember several years ago people calling for splitting up Brown and Tatum…they just could get it done. They were just young and needed more time. As does OKC if they fail to win it this season.

I am not a prisoner of the moment type of person. And I'm not saying they need to blow up the team. But last year was the year that it was okay for a young team to lose in the second round. If that happens again? Coming off the way they just dominated the West and won almost 70 games? Yeah, you're gonna have to take a very long look in the mirror. Anything less than a trip to the finals would be a massive, monumental disappointment for this team.

Plus, the way the new CBA is, life comes at you really fast. You can't take years and years to get things going. Which is why the premature "dynasty" talk was even more silly this time around than the last time OKC looked like a dynasty. The windows close a lot faster now.

But there is no indication that the OKC frontcourt is the problem. Jokic has had 2 bad games in a row. I would rather look at an upgrade from Dort.
Dude is like Marcus Smart and OKC needs to find their Jrue Holiday

[iggymcfrack]

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

[HotRocks34]

What stunned me was how rattled OKC looked in OT. I thought Denver would be exhausted and fold but OKC did instead.

Exhausted?

Isn’t living and playing on mile high arena shouldn’t be Nuggets advantage ?

Yes but Denver's depth is weak and so guys are playing bigger minutes.

Murray was for sure gassed. But the team toughed it out.

[Capn'O]

All these superstars haven’t played up to potential in these playoffs.

I can think of one who has.

[DonaldSanders]

Nuggets fans say he has never played with a current All Star. Every other superstar to win a championship has (maybe except Dirk? too lazy right now to look that up).

That is a fact. An easy to look up fact.

Nothing more to really say.

Sure but 2023 Murray in the playoffs was definitely better than 2022 Wiggins. This claim is overblown.

I think Jokic's supporting cast does in fact get denigrated too much -- these are excellent players. You don't win
vs. a 68 win team in the playoffs on an off night from Jokic where he looked clearly gassed if you don't have a good team.

Having said that, I think Jokic deserves all the praise he gets. I just think his teammates often get an unfair characterization.

[ArksNetsSince99]

Almost every time I watched a Nuggets regular season game it was a close one. OKC not so much. Not sure who can pull up the stats on who had more close games all season but based on what I’ve seen, the Nuggets are more used to this pressure. Whoever makes it out of this series wins it all IMO.

Hard to disagree that the future 2025 champion is in this bracket

They just heads above competition , before the playoffs I would include Celtics with them , not so sure anymore tho

[Capn'O]

SGA is not a “fraud” for losing to a Jokic led team in one poor game down the stretch. Let’s be serious

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

[ArksNetsSince99]

All these superstars haven’t played up to potential in these playoffs.

I can think of one who has.

Tatum ?

[Capn'O]

All these superstars haven’t played up to potential in these playoffs.

I can think of one who has.

Tatum ?

Oh that's gud

[ThunderWins]

Jordan played a lot of bad games…the media has brainwashed everyone into only knowing his good games

THIS point is why SGA needs come out better next game

[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.

[Wingy]

If they fail to get past the second round, with perhaps the best regular season of all time, it is absolutely time to panic. And I say this as someone who thinks people overreact way too often.

Sounds very prisoner of the moment.

I remember several years ago people calling for splitting up Brown and Tatum…they just could get it done. They were just young and needed more time. As does OKC if they fail to win it this season.

I am not a prisoner of the moment type of person. And I'm not saying they need to blow up the team. But last year was the year that it was okay for a young team to lose in the second round. If that happens again? Coming off the way they just dominated the West and won almost 70 games? Yeah, you're gonna have to take a very long look in the mirror. Anything less than a trip to the finals would be a massive, monumental disappointment for this team.

Plus, the way the new CBA is, life comes at you really fast. You can't take years and years to get things going. Which is why the premature "dynasty" talk was even more silly this time around than the last time OKC looked like a dynasty. The windows close a lot faster now.

I don’t disagree with a lot of what you said. I noted OKC should make moves at the 2024 trade deadline for said reasons, but think Presti recognized quickly enough that they couldn’t just wait for growth and went out and got Caruso and IHart. However-

1. Losing to what may very well end up being the eventual (and now multi-time) champions with the best player in the world isn’t a reason to think you have some massive soul-searching flaw

2. Lebron didn’t win til year 9. Jordan 7. Then in recent times: Tatum 7. Joker year 8. SGA is in his 7th season now. It’s normal for great players and teams to have growing pains. It’s an nba tale as old as time.

[iggymcfrack]

What stunned me was how rattled OKC looked in OT. I thought Denver would be exhausted and fold but OKC did instead.

Hartenstein hands were shaking, wide open misses on his bread and butter shot...
SGA weny full tunnel vision.

They’re **** shook. When you’re a higher favorite by point differential than any team that’s ever lost, but then your opposition who won the title 2 years ago has the best offensive player of all-time, the most clutch playoff player of all-time, and a guy who’s hit 3 game winner/tie-rs in the last 10 days, it’s **** stressful. Moreso when that team makes 2 crazy comebacks on you.

Honestly I feel like the Thunder need 3 blowouts in a row to win this series. If it’s a close game, Thunder will vomit all over themselves in crunch time. If it’s a Game 7, Thunder will vomit all over themselves AND Joker, Murray, and Gordon will all go nuts. It sounds crazy but I kinda feel like the Nuggets are gonna win this. And if they do win, I don’t know who the ****’s beating them.