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

[durden_tyler]

This confirms it for me, how the Thunder is the best team this postseason and will win the NBA title. They can win in a variety of ways, a low scoring slugfest or a high-scoring one. They are consistently versatile so match-ups (Wolves next then whoever comes out from the East, with whatever style)

Not sure about that.

They are playing the Nuggets. Major difference between this team guarding you versus Knicks/Celtics. Even a healthy Wolves and Dubs would tell us more.

The fact that they are stopping the best player in the world (Jokic) tells me a lot. Sure, the Nuggets are flawed but they are not the completely useless teams like the Grizzlies or Lakers, Denver is actually NBA Finals material, sort of unfortunate that they drew the #1 team at this round. They are at least on par with the Wolves and Warriors (with Steph).

[bbms]

So it looks like the efficiency of the stars is down across the board. Should we be crediting the physicality and defence? or just calling everyone trash?

i think you can credit nuggets struggles on okc. jokic himself credited them. said on record he still didn't figure out what the thunder is doing to him that they make him look like the worst player on his team, which is a lot different from the usual "i need to get better at...". before this game 94 ortg on 35 usg% and 7 topg/20 tov% averages... that's rough stuff from one of the best offensive players in the history of nba.

caruso has been thunder's mvp i think this says enough

i don't think the same can be said of okc offensive struggles. nuggets has played a very bread and butter zone. okc is having wide open threes all game they just don't make them. there were moments today i could see like never before the frustration in sga's face like he was feeling it hard. he was choking. nuggets has been gritty, and particularly braun has been stellar defensively, but really not much anywhere else.

[Chuck Everett]

Damn, I didn't even realize Lu Dort took 10 threes (missed 8) in this game. No wonder he got benched.

[Mamba Mentality]

Shai smiling at the end of game 3 will go down as an iconic moment. Thunder back in the drivers seat.

Yeah cause he played a world beater of a game tonight. Game was won for OKC when he was on the bench lol

Not sure what game you were watching. Outside a couple ball hog possessions at the end he was actually pretty solid in the 4th q. You just sound like a pure hater.

[Optms]

Which "board" are you reading? I see 20 "Jokic is trash/got exposed/is the worst" comments for one "SGA could have been better". The reality is, both are so good that the entire defense has zeroed in on them, and mostly SGA got more help than Jokic (except for one game). Today, the two max players Murray and MPJ were completely useless despite being wide open. And its so common that i predicted it.

Jokic has been completely useless for 3 straight games, stop making excuses. If LeBron put up the dismal shooting numbers Jokic was putting up you'd be making threads about it

When was the last time LeBron was double / triple teamed? He choked vs. the wolves in single coverage.

When was the last time you heard Jokic call himself the GOAT?

Stop it.

Bron was never tripled/doubled team?

When did you start watching basketball?

[uncleduck13]

Steph has to be super bummed looking at the rest of this Western conference field, knowing he almost certainly gets to another Finals if healthy.

Dubs were my Finals pick.

Injuries man.

Said it a month before the playoffs begin. Warriors we’re going to the Finals. They finally believed they can win again and sometimes belief is all that’s needed for a championship group like GSW.

[Castle Black]

Anyways, I predicted that OKC would win Games 4 & 5 and eventually the series and they will. This Denver team is poorly constructed with so many non-shooters and so little depth, and simply isn't good enough to win a Championship this year (especially with Joker playing as poorly as he is right now). OKC meanwhile has more shooting and incredible depth to go along with their #1-ranked Defense.

They were kind enough to gift Denver Game 1 in head-scratching fashion, but the reality is that they should've won this series in 5 games. Now they're having to do it the hard way but at least it'll make them more battle-tested for the NBA Finals.

[MrPainfulTruth]

Stats = "Propaganda" apparently . Hilarious.

Murray: 5/16
Westbrook: 2/12
MPJ: 1/7
Braun: 4/10
Watson: 1/3

Literally all of them shot poorly. And most of these are on WIDE OPEN looks generated by Joker too. These numbers are "Propaganda" though, right?

I never said Joker was playing well (he wasn't and has been horrible this series). I said he had to take over if they wanted any chance to win the game because his "shooters" couldn't throw it in the ocean on wide open shot attempts, which they couldn't.

Jokic: 7/22

How is that refuting anything I said... I've already acknowledged that Joker's been horrible this series. But he was getting his guys (especially Westbrook, Braun, MPJ, and Watson) wide open looks from 3 and literally all of them struggled to make them.

No point engaging with that guy. Dont feed the troll, as we boomers used to say.

[Raps in 4]

This loss is on Jokic. He choked hard down the stretch. The entire team played poorly though (both teams did).

AG is the second best player on the Nuggets. No one can tell me otherwise.

[The4thHorseman]

Steph has to be super bummed looking at the rest of this Western conference field, knowing he almost certainly gets to another Finals if healthy.

He's probably feeling that if Jimmy didn't save him from the lottery, he wouldn't be hurt right now.

[G R E Y]

Both teams were exhausted by the end. Great job by the NBA having them play late Friday then early today, especially considering the last game went to OT.

This shouldn't ever happen.

[SOUL]

Shai smiling at the end of game 3 will go down as an iconic moment. Thunder back in the drivers seat.

Aura farming works???

[SlimShady83]

Did Jokic double dribble at all this game? I came In at the end.

[SpurNani]

Jokic has been completely useless for 3 straight games, stop making excuses. If LeBron put up the dismal shooting numbers Jokic was putting up you'd be making threads about it

When was the last time LeBron was double / triple teamed? He choked vs. the wolves in single coverage.

When was the last time you heard Jokic call himself the GOAT?

Stop it.

Bron was never tripled/doubled team?

When did you start watching basketball?

Lmao like that guy is not a serious poster.

[Raps in 4]

Shai smiling at the end of game 3 will go down as an iconic moment. Thunder back in the drivers seat.

Yeah cause he played a world beater of a game tonight. Game was won for OKC when he was on the bench lol

Not sure what game you were watching. Outside a couple ball hog possessions at the end he was actually pretty solid in the 4th q. You just sound like a pure hater.

Yeah, he outplayed Jokic today. He didn't have a monster game or anything, but he played well.

[Optms]

Both teams were exhausted by the end. Great job by the NBA having them play late Friday then early today, especially considering the last game went to OT.

This shouldn't ever happen.

This was legitimately just another playoffs scheduled game for all NBA teams under the Stern era.

When did so many fans become condition to pamper these guys so much? The NBA 82 game schedule has already been tweaked to accommodate rest. One day of rest isn't enough now? Come on.

[Raps in 4]

Both teams were exhausted by the end. Great job by the NBA having them play late Friday then early today, especially considering the last game went to OT.

This shouldn't ever happen.

This was legitimately just another playoffs scheduled game for all NBA teams under the Stern era.

When did so many fans become condition to pamper these guys so much? The NBA 82 game schedule has already been tweaked to accommodate rest. One day of rest isn't enough now? Come on.

It's not about pampering. It's about avoiding ugly games like this. This was a chore to watch. I turned off the game multiple times. I can only take so many airballs in a quarter before I tune out.

[Patches Perry]

I am discouraged by how dysfunctional OKC's offense looks for large stretches, but for them to play that bad and still win a close game on the road against a team with championship pedigree is something to hang their hat on. When people talk about playoff experience, these are the kind of games they mean. Sloppy, slow, no rhythm, bad shooting, an unfavorable whistle, and they still pushed through. This win for OKC is far more valuable for the youngsters on their roster than another blowout. Shout out to Caruso who played the experienced vet leadership role perfectly. He deserves a lot of credit because he was the only one who didn't have bad body language when Denver took the lead in the 2nd half. These guys would be wise to learn from him.

Also shout out to Aaron Gordon, that dude is ridiculous. When you factor defense, efficiency, and carrying them in big crunchtime moments, he has probably been their best player these last 3 games. When he made that bank shot three at the end I was like HERE WE GO AGAIN!

SGA has been trash offensively and if not for Jokic also playing well below his standard it would be a much bigger story. The late offense in the 4th of Shai chucking dagger threes has been infuriating. He needs to figure it out or the accusations of being the next Harden will stick. I will say Shai always plays defense and that alone separates him from a lot of the comparisons he gets from his detractors.

[BigDan245]

Denver used up the bad Jokic win in game 3. You can't expect this team to win these games with Jokic being horrific. He's not been average, he's been bad. He needs to be MVP Jokic 2 out of the next 3 games or they're done.

[uncleduck13]

Steph has to be super bummed looking at the rest of this Western conference field, knowing he almost certainly gets to another Finals if healthy.

He's probably feeling that if Jimmy didn't save him from the lottery, he wouldn't be hurt right now.