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Nuggets Fans Looking Ahead to OKC After Game 7 Blowout of Clippers

The Nuggets role players finally showed up and showed out
May 4, 2025
Image: Nikola Jokić cracked a smile while talking with Serbian national teammate Bogdan Bogdanovich after the Denver Nuggets' game 7 victory.
Nikola Jokić cracked a smile while talking with Serbian national teammate Bogdan Bogdanovich after the Denver Nuggets' game 7 victory. Altitude TV/Photo by Michael Roberts
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The May 3 matchup between the Denver Nuggets and the Los Angeles Clippers could have been the next installment of a recurring nightmare. But the game seven of the NBA playoffs became a dream of a victory with the blowout score of 120-101 — even though that margin could have, and should have, been larger.

Now another fearsome vision looms in the persons of the Oklahoma City Thunder, which Denver will encounter on May 5. Yet Nuggets Nation is savoring the opportunity, if only because the first worst-case scenario versus the Clips didn't happen — and if one demon can be exorcised, why not another?

To recap: One year ago this month, Denver faced the Minnesota Timberwolves in the second round of the playoffs, and conventional wisdom held that Nikola Jokić and his supporting cast would bring the squad led by Anthony "Ant Man" Edwards down to size. Instead, the Nuggets threw away an opportunity to finish matters in the series' sixth matchup, then lost the deciding contest at home in one of NBA history's biggest-ever choke jobs.

This year's showdown against the Clippers initially followed the same ugly pattern. The Nuggets were ahead 3-2 going into game six, but couldn't finish L.A. That triggered another win-or-stay-home situation at Ball Arena against a crew led by Kawhi Leonard, who had lately exhibited the form he'd displayed when leading two different franchises, the San Antonio Spurs and the Toronto Raptors, to championships. And most national sports pundits predicted he'd take another step that direction in Denver.

Such prognostications seemed prescient in the first quarter last night, when the Clippers, guided by brilliant tactician Ty Lue, dialed up the defensive pressure on the Nugs, whose early responses were the opposite of impressive. They opened with a trio of missed three pointers from Jokić, Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr., and while Christian Braun subsequently got a triple to fall, he clanked one of two free throws during a subsequent trip to the line — an indication that the Nuggets' woes at the charity stripe weren't over. (They'd miss six over the course of the evening.) Worse, the shooting of Jokić and Murray was clearly off. As a result, L.A. was ahead 26-21 after twelve minutes, raising fears of a T-Wolves sequel no one in Colorado wanted to see.

But in the second quarter, the Nuggets fought back on the strength of performances by some unlikely stars — not just Russell Westbrook, whose chaotic but weirdly inspired play had essentially secured game one for Denver, but also Braun, Aaron Gordon and even Peyton Watson, who wound up with nine points by night's end. Their efforts more than made up for the subpar offensive efforts of Jokić and Murray, producing an eleven-point halftime bulge, 58-47.

The trend continued after intermission. Nikola and Jamal finished with sixteen points each — typically a formula that begins with the letter "L." But Gordon hammered home 22, Braun tossed in 21, Westbrook contributed sixteen, and Porter registered fifteen, giving Denver a balanced scoring attack that's been as rare as an uncooked steak this season. The lead hit an eyebrow-elevating 33 points in the final stanza with 10:30 to go and a foul-troubled Jokić on the pine. Minutes later, Lue surrendered, bringing in his backups off the bench, and interim Denver coach David Adelman followed suit with more than five minutes remaining on the clock. This last move proved premature: The Clippers' backups nearly halved their largest deficit, forcing Adelman to put Jokić and Murray back on the floor. But the advantage proved too much for even the Nuggets to give back.

Within seconds of the final horn, Nugs fans on social media were already salivating at the prospect of taking on the Thunder, even though the same experts who'd foreseen a Clippers win overwhelmingly favor OKC. Having been present for Denver's season-opener against the Thunder, when Shai Gilgeous-Alexander — almost certain to top Jokić for MVP despite the Joker's brain-rattling personal stats — helped his deep, talented outfit make the Nuggets look old, slow and overmatched, I understand this presumption. But if Jokić and Murray get the sort of assistance they received from their comrades on Saturday evening, anything is possible.

Get a preview of the next round by way of these twenty memorable post-game takes on X.

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Image: Michael Roberts
Michael Roberts began his career with Westword in 1990 as music editor. In 1999, he took on a new role, full-time media reporter, as author of a column called The Message. In 2008, he became the lead writer for Westword's news blog, The Latest Word, a position he held until January 2023. Michael continues to freelance for Westword, covering everything from business to sports and the media; he also contributes to Jazziz, a national music magazine. He holds a bachelor's degree from what is now Colorado Mesa University and master's degrees from the University of California, Los Angeles, and Northwestern University.
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