By Johnny Askounis/ [email protected]
The Oklahoma City Thunder overcame a slow start to demolish the Denver Nuggets, 125-93, and advance to the Western Conference Finals.
With injury issues spread across several key players, including Aaron Gordon, who played through a left hamstring strain, the Nuggets fell in Game 7 of a best-of-seven series. They went up by 11 points in the first quarter, but the hosts using a 13-0 run bounced back immediately and peaked at a distance of 43 points during the fourth quarter.
Bowing out of the 2025 NBA Playoffs presented by Google on Sunday, Nikola Jokic tallied 20 points with 5/9 field goals. Lasting nearly 37 minutes before the starters returned to the bench for the last nine minutes, the 30-year-old Serbian superstar added nine rebounds and seven assists in Paycom Center.
More European action on NBA Sundays, 27-year-old German center Isaiah Hartenstein scored 10 points behind 5/7 two-pointers, grabbed seven rebounds, and dished out one assist. Mark Daigneault’s side committing only nine turnovers headlined a brilliant team performance.
With Serbian Nikola Topic (left knee surgery) remaining on the injury list of the Thunder, Belgian Ajay Mitchell squeezed in five points and one rebound, and French Ousmane Dieng grabbed one rebound in garbage time. Slovenian Vlatko Cancar and Croatian Dario Saric did not play for the team coached by David Adelman.
After completing the Conference Semifinals series with a blowout, the Thunder start the Conference Finals with Game 1 of the West Finals opposite the Minnesota Timberwolves in Paycom Center on Tuesday.
2025 NBA Playoffs presented by Google
Conference Quarterfinals (best of seven)
East
Cleveland Cavaliers – Miami Heat 4-0 (121-100, 121-112, 124-87, 138-83)
Boston Celtics – Orlando Magic 4-1 (103-86, 109-100, 93-95, 107-98, 120-89)
New York Knicks – Detroit Pistons 4-2 (123-112, 94-100, 118-116, 94-93, 103-106, 116-113)
Indiana Pacers – Milwaukee Bucks 4-1 (117-98, 123-115, 101-117, 129-103, 119-118)
West
Oklahoma City Thunder – Memphis Grizzlies 4-0 (131-80, 118-99, 114-108, 117-115)
Houston Rockets – Golden State Warriors 3-4 (85-95, 109-94, 93-104, 106-109, 131-116, 115-107, 89-103)
Los Angeles Lakers – Minnesota Timberwolves 1-4 (95-117, 94-85, 104-116, 113-116, 96-103)
Denver Nuggets – Los Angeles Clippers 4-3 (112-110, 102-105, 83-117, 101-99, 131-115, 105-111, 120-101)
Conference Semifinals (best of seven)
East
Cleveland Cavaliers – Indiana Pacers 1-4 (112-121, 119-120, 126-104, 109-129, 105-114)
Boston Celtics – New York Knicks 2-4 (105-108, 90-91, 115-93, 113-121, 127-102, 81-119)
West
Oklahoma City Thunder – Denver Nuggets 4-3 (119-121, 149-106, 104-113, 92-87, 112-105, 107-119, 125-93)
Minnesota Timberwolves – Golden State Warriors 4-1 (88-99, 117-93, 102-97, 117-110, 121-110)
Conference Finals (best of seven)
East
New York Knicks – Indiana Pacers
West
Oklahoma City Thunder – Minnesota Timberwolves
NBA Finals (best of seven)
Eastern Conference and Western Conference champions