Thunder rout Nuggets to reach West finals

The Oklahoma City Thunder are on their way to the Western Conference finals following a Game 7 win in dominating fashion.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the way with 35 points as the West's top seed rolled to a 125-93 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Sunday, ending a conference semi-finals series that went the distance.

The Thunder got big performances from their star players and played their usual tough defence to prevail in this winner-take-all matchup. Gilgeous-Alexander finished 12 of 19 from the field, Jalen Williams added 24 points on 10-of-17 shooting along with seven assists, and Chet Holmgren notched a double-double of 13 points and 11 rebounds.

Oklahoma City also held the fourth-seeded Nuggets to a 22.2 per cent success rate from 3-point range and 39.3 per cent overall to advance to its first West finals since 2016, when the Thunder lost to the Golden State Warriors in seven games in Kevin Durant's final season in Oklahoma City.

The Thunder will face the sixth-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves in the next round, with Game 1 set for Tuesday in Oklahoma City.

Got it done in Game 7. WCF up nextpic.twitter.com/LDwGZiOCtt
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) May 18, 2025

Denver forced a Game 7 with Thursday's 119-107 win at home on Thursday, but couldn't match that level of efficiency on Sunday. Star center Nikola Jokić was held to nine shot attempts while managing 20 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, while sharpshooter Jamal Murray missed seven of eight attempts from beyond the arc while being limited to 13 points.

Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon grabbed 11 rebounds but recorded just eight points in 25 minutes while playing through a hamstring injury he sustained in Game 6.

Denver did start Game 7 out strong, as it strung together a 10-2 run midway through the first quarter to take an early 21-10 lead. The Nuggets' margin was 10 points late in the opening period after Murray converted a layup with 1:03 left for a 26-16 advantage.

The Thunder scored the next 13 points, however, to move ahead early in the second quarter, then dominated the final stages of the first half. They outscored Denver 18-5 to close out the second quarter - with Williams accounting for 11 of those points - to go into half-time owning a 60-46 lead.

Oklahoma City stayed hot after the break, as Gilgeous-Alexander had seven points during a 9-0 run to start the third quarter that put the Thunder up comfortably at 69-46.

The Nuggets could not recover, as the Thunder's lead never got below 17 points the rest of the way. Oklahoma City owned a whopping 43-point margin at 125-82 with under four minutes left before Denver ended the game on an 11-0 run with the outcome already decided.