CNN
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Behind a stellar performance from MVP favorite Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the Oklahoma City Thunder overpowered the Denver Nuggets 125-93 in Game 7 to advance to the Western Conference Finals for the first time since 2016.
The Thunder trailed by 11 points late in the first quarter at Oklahoma City’s Paycom Center and were down 26-21 after the period.
But the Thunder roared back and took control of the game, leading by 14 points at the half and 25 after the third quarter.
Thunder superstar guard Gilgeous-Alexander scored a game-high 35 points on 12-of-19 shooting. It was his seventh 30+ point game in the postseason this season, the most in the league.
After the game, Gilgeous-Alexander said the series win means a lot for the city and fans.
“They’ve been so good all year. They’ve been behind us through good and bad. It feels like no team in the league has homecourt advantage like we do,” he said. “We’ve been a better team because of them, having them behind us. To know that if we didn’t bring it tonight it could be over for them as well wasn’t fair.”
Oklahoma City forward Jalen Williams finished with 24 points, five rebounds and seven assists as the Thunder won the Western Conference semis four games to three.
OKC head coach Mark Daigneault was impressed with his team’s Game 7 performance.
“There’s not many games that you wake up in the morning and you know that you’re going to remember the game for the rest of your life and Game 7 is one of them,” Daigneault told reporters after the victory.
“It’s really a distraction, distraction from the fact that it’s still a basketball game. To be able to focus through that and perform the way these guys did today was very impressive.”
Denver committed 22 turnovers and struggled from the three-point line, converting just 10-of-45 from beyond the arc.
Nuggets superstar center Nikola Jokić, a three-time regular season MVP and finalist for this year’s award, finished with 20 points, nine rebounds and seven assists in the loss.
“Everybody, even in the first round thought the (Los Angeles) Clippers going to beat us,” Jokić said at the postgame news conference. “We’ve always found a way, except tonight. We’ve found a way to win a game. We’ve found a way to win a series and today wasn’t the case.”
He added: “We’ve played a seven-game series against probably the best team in the NBA. We’ve had opportunities. We’ve had chances.”
OKC will next face the Minnesota Timberwolves, led by star guard Anthony Edwards, starting Tuesday night in Oklahoma City.