NBA title path open for OKC Thunder after Denver Nuggets was eliminated

Shai Gilgeous-Aalexander posed behind the arch and held its depths after the left wing, and when the ball tore through the network, Thunder fans tested the structural integrity of the Paycom Center.

Kept the roof.

Barely.

This shot pressed the thunder guide beyond three touchdowns. Also pushed the nuggets over the edge.

Thunder 125, Nuggets 93.

For the first time in almost a decade, the thunder goes to the final of the Western Conference. To get there, it survived a knock-down, drag-out against the nuggets, a seven-game series that tested this Thunder pile in every respect.

“They showed the Mettle of a champion,” said Thunder coach Mark Daignult and took a moment to give his cap to the nuggets at the beginning of his press conference before asking questions. “The run up to this point and the run they gave us was impressive. They are a few zombies.”

It is impossible to kill these boys – but the thunder finally did it.

Hey, nobody said that would be just.

And it won't go forward.

Expect the timber wolves. They are one of just five teams that can beat the thunder several times during the regular season. Minnesota was the only team to enter Denver, Golden State, Dallas and Houston.

“We are playing a really good team in the Timberwolves,” said SGA, “and we have to try to hit them before they defeated us four times. All of our team are worried that we only try to be where our feet are at the moment, see what is in front of us and try to attack it.”

That was the key to the Nuggets and will be decisive again against the wolves, but if we were able to take a moment after this victory, let us zoom. We were so enclosed in this series -and rightly because this was a few weeks -that we may no longer have in stock from everything that happened in these NBA playoffs.

The short version: The street for a title is wide open for this thunder.

Yes, in a few short hours the thunder went over from a must-gain nail builder of a scenario to a path that is so advantageous for a top seed that goes into the conference final. The questions before Sunday were about how the thunder would cope with the pressure of game 7. Whether this would be the moment in which this team arrived or bombed. If the outlier was a team with a 68 winner that the final of the conference does not even achieve, or if it is one of the youngest teams in the league.

The thunder best answered all of these questions.

“At that moment to be present not to leave too much outdoors what we do in the game … I think that was most impressive,” said Thunder Wing Jalen Williams. “No matter what was going on, we put together and we were only unusual in this way.

“How, we even had a team meal after a loss. I think that only shows how connected we were. We did it all the time, so we are only with each other, regardless of what happens.”

Now it's fair to take a step back and think about what is possible.

The number 2 and 3 seeds in the west are over. The rockets and the Lakers did not even survive the first round. No. 4 and 5 seeds are also abandoned. You know the nuggets, while the Clipperers were also losers in the first round.

The two best seeds are also out in the east. The Cavaliers and Celtics, which were largely regarded as the greatest threats in the Eastern Conference, have already submitted their uniforms. Her breathtaking losses in the conference finale only leave the Knicks and Pacers.

It is rare that the two best seeds in the east and the four of the top 5 were followed in the west before the conference finals started.

The way to a championship may never be better for a top seed.

Now I said better.

Simply?

Under no circumstances.

The timber wolves are young and physical and hard. You have a superstar who can detonate and take on a game alone. You have role players who are talented and capable of. You are in defense and are explosive on the offensive.

They are basically a cold weather.

So buckle up for a great series.

And if you survive, you will either be exposed to a Superhot Indiana team or a New York bunch that the defending champion has turned off.

So, no, the street is not easy.

But the thunder will have nothing more difficult than what it just got through. It has overcome the best player on the planet and a team with a core who has a championship for his recognition. It overwhelmed the disappointment of blown leads and a felled overtime.

It overcame.

“This was not our cleanest series. I didn't think we played our best,” said Daigneult.

Play 7 too.

When the thunder was around twice as many minutes as the Nuggets, but was still 3: 3. Having this type of advantage in a few minutes, but games not won in games can be a mental hurdle.

And playing in a game 7 is your own barrier to cross.

“There are not many games that you wake up in the morning and you know that you will remember the game for the rest of your life,” said Daigneult.

But a team that is made up of players who had never played a game 7 on the whole, triumphed against a Nuggets core who played together in his seventh game 7. They had already played in a game 7 in these playoffs, which was more than most boys in Thunder Blue.

And the thunder did not triumph because of something unusual. Sure, there were wrinkles; Who saw how Alex Caruso plays so many minutes to guard Nikola Jokic? Yes, there was drama; Williams jumped back from a lousy shooting night to organize one of his best games as a thunder.

But OKC didn't have to do anything crazy to beat Denver.

“We were who we are,” said Daignault. “This is enough with this team. If we only bet who we are, individual and together, we are a really hard team to beat, and I just thought we had remained in character.

“These boys just come again and again. It is really incredible strength, and I thought it really showed the character of the team and the character of the boys, and we will need this determination when we go forward.”

It is determined that the rest of the league should fear.

Also determined that loyalty love. The Paycom Center audience started a serenade with just more than a minute lead.

Well na na,

Hey, hey, hey,

Goodbye!

The thunder said goodbye to the nuggets, but hello to the rest of the league. This team is a threat. A force that was great under the hardest circumstances. A bunch that has a street that could bring it to a title.

Jenni Carlson: Jenni can be reached at jcarlson@oklahoman.com. Follow how on facebook.com/jennicarlsonok at @jennicarlsonok.bsky.social and twitter.com/jennicarlson_ok and support your work and other Oklahoman journalists by buying a digital subscription today.

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