OKC's swarming defense slows down nuggets

The Oklahoma City Thunder ended the regular NBA season 2024-25 as the best-placed defense (106.6) and they brought this identity to the 2025 playoffs. Your 100.2 defensive rating is the best brand in the post -season by a fairly large lead, as you are more than five full points ahead of Boston's 105.8 numbers.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, one of two Kia MVP finalists in this incredible series, led the league with a career high of 32.7 ppg, but offers much more than that for Mark Daigneult and his team of coaches. SGA's frame (6-foot 6, 195 pounds), basketball IQ and speed enable him to guide a fatal defensive unit that made Nikola Jokić and the Nuggets difficult for life.

Luguentz there and Jalen Williams, OKC's start of two and small strikers, bring speed, strength and versatility with fast, strong hands that always seem to be in passing lanes. When you check out, the intensity never drops thanks to a group of sports guards and wings, led by Alex Caruso, Cason Wallace, Aaron Wiggins and Isaiah Joe.

On the front square, Isaiah Hartenstein and Chet Holmgren were enormous as the backbone of the defensive structure of Oklahoma City, whether in zone or man-to-man reporting. This big-man tower was developed to show Jokić a rotating door of physicality and the tight cover with Hartenstein's hulcing presence (7-foot, 250 pounds) and Holmgrens Length and defensive IQ, which represent a difficult challenge for the nuggets.

And don't forget that reserve Jaylin Williams, who played the role of executors from the bank in this series. The main order for the 6-foot 9, 240 pound forward center was to build bodies with Denvers MVP finalists, while Hartenstein and Holmgren were written.

If you mix all of these parts together with the aggressive approach of Daigreault in defense, the results speak for themselves. We have already mentioned the top defense of the Thunder in the playoff, but they are also the first in defensive rebounds (34.4), steals (10.4), the points of the opponent from sales (10.4) and fastbreak points (9.1) and secondly in the blocks (6.8) and the points of the opponent in color (38.3).

We treated the players and what they bring to the table, but we are now concentrating on the program. When OKC is reported in humans, they are fast enough on their feet and in rotations to send double team to Jokić with almost every possession. If you operate zone (usually a 2-3 zone), something you have done with regularity in the conference semi-final, the thunder in the middle of the floor clogs and suffocates the nuggets, which forces you into the circumference and shots that you do not necessarily want.

Denver was in 3-point attempts per game (31.9) in the league in the regular season in the league, but this number rose to 38.5 3PA in the four competitions against OKC. In their first round compared to the La Clippers, the Nuggets in seven games only looked up an average of 29.0 3PA.

The thunder also limits Denvers Assists (19.5 APG) and forces 17.3 sales per night. Compared to the statistics of the nuggets, these figures look very different in the first round – 24.6 APG and 13.9 sales. If you are looking for a little deeper why the coaches and players from OKC create a schedule to slow down one of the best players in the world.

In his last three excursions, Jokić has put together 15 templates for 16 sales, while he shot 33.3% of the field and 18.2% behind the arch. In his four games in the semifinals, he scored an average of 26.5 points, 14.8 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 5.8 sales, which gives the Joker with 0.91 assist-to-turnover ratio compared to thunder. He closed the regular season with a 3.11 branch. After game 4 Jokić said: “You reduce the soil for me”, an answer to his three assists from 2025 Playoff-Low with the defeat of 92-87.

Oklahoma City has apparently found a formula to defend the verse offensive heart. If you can continue to make everything more difficult for the nuggets, SGA and The Thunder have a great opportunity in a 3-2 lead in game 5 in game 5 (tonight (tonight (tonight9:30 ET, TNT).