OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) \u2014 The Oklahoma City Thunder grew up on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 35 points, Jalen Williams added 24 and the Thunder rolled into the Western Conference finals, beating the Denver Nuggets 125-93 in Game 7.<\/p>\n
The top-seeded Thunder will host the sixth-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves starting Tuesday. It\u2019s Oklahoma City\u2019s first trip to the conference finals since 2016.<\/p>\n
Oklahoma City went a league-best 68-14 in the regular season, becoming the youngest team to win at least 60 games. To back up their status as the best team in the league, the Thunder had to get past three-time MVP Nikola Jokic and a Denver squad that won the NBA title in 2023 and beat the Los Angeles Clippers in seven games in the first round<\/a> this year.<\/p>\n Coach Mark Daigneault said his players handled the pressure well.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s not many games, you wake up in the morning and you know that you\u2019re going to remember the game for the rest of your life, and Game 7 is one of them,\u201d he said. \u201cTo be able to focus through that and perform the way these guys did today was very impressive.\u201d<\/p>\n Jokic had 20 points, nine rebounds and seven assists for the Nuggets. Aaron Gordon, a key player for Denver throughout the playoffs who hit the winner in Game 1<\/a> against the Thunder, started despite a strained left hamstring<\/a>. He had eight points and 11 rebounds in 24 minutes. <\/p>\n \u201cWhat he played with today, I don\u2019t know many people that would even attempt to go out there and run up and down,\u201d Nuggets interim coach David Adelman said. \u201cAnd he did it in Game 7 against Oklahoma City on the road. That that was one of most incredible things I\u2019ve ever seen. He was extremely close to not playing. I was surprised.\u201d<\/p>\n The Thunder fell behind by 11 in the first quarter, but took the lead early in the second. Oklahoma City outscored Denver 39-20 in the period to take a 60-46 lead at the break.<\/p>\n Gordon was called for a flagrant-1 foul for elbowing Gilgeous-Alexander in the face early in the third quarter. Gilgeous-Alexander made both free throws, and then Williams hit a short jumper to give Oklahoma City a 66-46 lead.<\/p>\n Cason Wallace got loose on a fast break and dunked on Jokic<\/a> to put the Thunder up 78-57, sparking delirious roars from the crowd.<\/p>\n Oklahoma City cruised from there and now hopes to make another leap.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re better now than we were at the beginning of the series, and it\u2019s because of them,\u201d Daigneault said. \u201cThey pushed us to the limit.\u201d<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n