Game 7

The Nuggets find themselves in a game 7 of round two for the second year in a row. They will be looking to right some wrongs from last year when they blew a 20-point lead to Minnesota in game 7 at home. The Thunder, on the other hand, will be having players getting their first taste of game 7. As the Nuggets and Thunder prep for game 7, here are some things to consider.

Though OKC is the better team and the deeper team, going to game 7 favors Denver here. The first reason is that 7 of the last 10 road teams have won game 7. So, home-court advantage is not much of an advantage in a game of this magnitude, especially as of recent. Secondly, the Nuggets live for this type of game. Since 2019, they have played in 7 Game 7s. Meanwhile, OKC has only had 2 players who have played in a Game 7 previously: SGA and Lu Dort. Game 7 comes down to which team has the best player and which team has the experience/championship pedigree. In this case, that is the Denver Nuggets. They have the best player in Nikola Jokic, and this core has seen everything imaginable in the postseason. Now, that doesn't mean that OKC can't win. This young team has a chance to show the league that they have officially arrived, and winning games like these is what is going to take them to the next level.

For each team, there are a few concerns heading into the game. For OKC, it's more about how players other than SGA will perform in a moment they have never been in before. OKC is going to need guys like Jalen Williams and Lu Dort to have big games. SGA will not be able to do it alone. As for Denver, who, from the bench, will step up? In game 6, it was Strawther. In game 7, it may be someone else. It could be Russ or Peyton Watson. Either way, they are going to need a strong bench performance, especially with the hamstring injury to Aaron Gordon that he suffered late in the previous game.

It has been a tale of 2 different paths for each team. The Thunder were a well-oiled machine. A team with an average age of 24.8, looking to take over the league for years to come. Led by the best defense in the league and their young superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, they won 68 games and won the top spot in the West by 16 games. They quickly disregarded their first-round match-up in 4 games, which led to them having 9 days' rest before their round 2 showdown with Denver. Then we have the Nuggets. A team that had a much rockier regular season. A team that had major roster issues. A team that was one of the worst defenses in the league, and that organization quickly became a toxic environment as former Head Coach Michael Malone and former GM Calvin Booth were at odds with one another. The toxicity became apparent as it spilled onto the court when the Nuggets found themselves in a 4 game losing streak with 3 games left to play. The organization made a bold decision in firing Booth and Malone, who was the Head Coach for 10 years and had won a championship 2 years prior. David Adelman, assistant coach, had to step in with just 3 games left and had to right the ship. The team was in danger of falling into the play-in tournament. Things could have easily gone off the rails. Instead, this team gathered itself and won the last 3 regular-season games to lock up the 4th seed, won a 7-game war against one of the hottest teams in the league in the Clippers in round 1, and now have pushed the best team in the league to seven games.

This is why the NBA playoffs are so fun. It doesn't matter how smooth or rocky the path has been. All it comes down to is one game. Game 7. 2 MVP Candidates. Only one can advance to the Western Conference Finals. Here we go!