OKLAHOMA CITY — Aaron Gordon was the personification of his team’s postseason, standing resolute at the top of the key, smiling even while he drained warm-up shots. The Nuggets willed themselves to this Game 7, and Gordon was going to will himself to play in it on one leg.
Resilience and toughness were not enough to overcome a team 18 wins better than Denver. Maybe for six games. Not a seventh.
With a 125-93 loss to an emergent Oklahoma City Thunder juggernaut on Sunday, the Nuggets’ 2024-25 season ended at the same juncture as last year: Game 7 of the Western Conference semifinals.
This time was different. The Timberwolves crashed Denver’s repeat party in 2024. The Nuggets were trying to interrupt Oklahoma City’s arrival in 2025. And they nearly did, until the last three quarters of the series. They led 21-10 eight minutes into the winner-take-all game. Allegations of inexperience confronted the Thunder once again. Oklahoma City responded by hammering its challenger. The Nuggets were valiant but ultimately not worthy.
“Obviously, there’s mixed emotions, but I’m proud of my guys,” Gordon said. “I’m proud of our team. I’m proud of our organization. … I think we fought very hard, gave ourselves a chance to beat the No. 1 seed.”
Denver’s second- and third-leading scorers fell short while combating various ailments. Jamal Murray’s gutsy series arrived at a sour ending, with 13 points and two assists on 6-of-16 shooting as he attempted to play through illness. Michael Porter Jr.’s shoulder armor for a sprained AC joint was stripped down to bandaging, but he couldn’t come close on a 3-pointer. His wobbly, injury-stamped playoffs finished with a 3-for-8, six-point performance.
“(Murray) was sick. There’s no excuses. Jamal won’t make excuses for it,” interim coach David Adelman said. “He’s been run-down the last couple games. But he played well in Game 6. He found a way. Give them credit. They got into us. They pushed us off our spots. We played too high on the floor. … Same thing for Mike. Mike’s going through it, but the bottom line is, they were going through it yesterday, too. They were going through it in Game 6. So there’s no excuses up here.”
The team shot 39.8% from the field and 22.7% from 3-point range with 22 turnovers. Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led all scorers with 35 points.
“He’s a special player,” Nikola Jokic said. “His shot selection, his shot-making capability, making his own shot. Separation. Playing at his rhythm. Defensively, he was always taking the ball, he was always blocking shots.”
Gordon gave Denver life, playing through a strained hamstring three days after suffering the injury late in Game 6. To avoid running the floor, he slinked back to the defensive end and set up a stance early whenever a teammate got to the foul line. Ginger in his movements, intentionally trying to avoid sprinting, he still compiled eight points and 11 rebounds in 24 minutes.
“That was one of the most incredible things I’ve ever seen,” Adelman said.
“There was never a doubt in my mind that I was going to play today,” Gordon said. “The only thing that made me doubt playing was the MRI. The MRI told me something worse than what I was feeling.”
His willingness to sacrifice will endure in Denver. But the defining moments that will endure from Game 7 involved the Thunder moving at high speed. Cason Wallace flying around Jokic and plastering the reigning MVP on a poster. Alex Caruso pickpocketing Jokic and dishing a behind-the-back pass to a trailing SGA in transition. Jalen Williams sailing to easy fast-break points during a Thunder-storm of steals late in the first half. Caruso potting a dunk, then head-butting the ball with glee.
Jokic amassed 20 points, nine rebounds and seven assists before Adelman pulled the starters with nine minutes remaining.
The superstar center also turned the ball over five times, as Oklahoma City coach Mark Daigneault pestered him with one last adjustment. After six games of general resistance to small-ball, the Thunder played lineups with only one big man on the floor at a time, fronting Jokic with the 6-foot-5, 186-pound Caruso. A back-line defender was usually lurking behind him.
If Jokic ever felt discomforted by the hostile environment in his first-ever road Game 7, Caruso tried to lift his spirits by wrapping him in a constant hug.
“It was a game where we had to make 18 threes,” Adelman said.
Caruso was one of the best players in the series, and it was fitting that he did his damage off Oklahoma City’s bench. The Nuggets’ depth haunted them. Their bench was outscored in every game of the series. In the finale, Russell Westbrook was a minus-34 in 21 minutes. Peyton Watson went 1 for 8 from the floor. Any attempt at substitutions immediately backfired on Adelman.
While Oklahoma City advances to a Western Conference Finals matchup with the Minnesota Timberwolves, Denver enters its offseason needing to hire a new head coach and general manager. Michael Malone and Calvin Booth lost their jobs with three games left in the regular season.
Adelman filled Malone’s shoes and led an admirable playoff run under the circumstances, knocking out the red-hot Clippers in the first round.
But the last memory of an unusual season remains that of a hobbled team limping off the floor in Oklahoma City.
“I thought that it was a very competitive series. It was really fun, to be honest,” Murray said. “… We just didn’t bring our best tonight. … I’m frustrated and everything, but there’s a lot to take away from the last six, seven weeks.”
Want more Nuggets news? Sign up for the Nuggets Insider to get all our NBA analysis.