{"id":43102,"date":"2025-05-19T13:57:07","date_gmt":"2025-05-19T13:57:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/43102\/"},"modified":"2025-05-19T13:57:07","modified_gmt":"2025-05-19T13:57:07","slug":"alex-caruso-thwarts-nikola-jokic-for-a","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/43102\/","title":{"rendered":"Alex Caruso thwarts Nikola Jokic for A+"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Thunder<\/a> did its best to remove any drama Game 7s are supposed to be infused with.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After a nervy first quarter, the Thunder dominated the second quarter and never looked back in a 125-93 win over the Nuggets<\/a> on Sunday afternoon at Paycom Center.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Up next: A Western Conference finals<\/a> date with the Timberwolves.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s get to the grades.\u00a0<\/p>\n

CARLSON: With road to NBA championship wide open, OKC Thunder passes huge test in bouncing Nuggets<\/a><\/p>\n

The Thunder guard gave up 6 inches and nearly 100 pounds to Nikola Jokic, but Caruso made the Nugget superstar\u2019s life miserable Sunday. He hounded. He poked. He prodded. Caruso wasn\u2019t perfect \u2014 and the Thunder gave him plenty of help with double teams \u2014 but his defense on Jokic was masterful.<\/p>\n

Caruso finished the game a plus-40, the highest plus-minus by a reserve in a Game 7 this century, according to StatMuse.<\/p>\n

(Fellow Thunder reserve Cason Wallace had the next-highest plus-minus at plus-38.)<\/p>\n

Caruso changed the tenor of so many games this series, but none was more important than Sunday. Along with Isaiah Hartenstein and Chet Holmgren, Caruso helped hold Jokic to as many turnovers (five) as made baskets.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Jenni Carlson<\/p>\n

MUSSATTO: Jalen Williams redeems himself in Game 7 of NBA Playoffs by fueling Thunder past Nuggets<\/a><\/p>\n

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: A+\u00a0<\/p>\n

It was the Alex-Caruso-denying-Nikola-Jokic Game. The Jalen Williams Redemption Game.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Lost in that, although it shouldn\u2019t be, was a Shai Gilgeous-Alexander masterclass.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He scored 35 points on 12-of-19 shooting. He had four assists, three rebounds, three steals and a block. And not one turnover.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This was MVP Shai.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2014\u00a0Joe Mussatto<\/p>\n

5 TAKEAWAYS: OKC Thunder storms past Nuggets in Game 7 to reach Western Conference finals<\/a><\/p>\n

Cason Wallace dunk over Nikola Jokic: A\u00a0<\/p>\n

Some dunks elicit an immediate reaction.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Like the one Cason Wallace had over Nikola Jokic midway through the third quarter.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Even Mike Breen lost his cool.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Thunder isn\u2019t a team of high flyers. Wallace might be OKC\u2019s best in-game dunker.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2014\u00a0Joe Mussatto<\/p>\n

More: OKC Thunder vs Minnesota Timberwolves predictions, odds: Who wins Western Conference finals?<\/a><\/p>\n

Thunder crowd: A+\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cDeafening,\u201d is how Alex Caruso described it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The crowd sounded as nervous as the team played in the first quarter, but Caruso made Paycom Center erupt when he trapped Christian Braun in the corner and forced the Nuggets guard into a travel.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s only going to get louder from here on. Time to bust out the earplugs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Pockets of the lower bowl stood for the entire second half \u2026 including timeouts.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2014\u00a0Joe Mussatto<\/p>\n

CARLSON: Why Queen’s ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ is the OKC Thunder’s victory anthem at Paycom Center<\/a><\/p>\n

Points off turnovers: A<\/p>\n

The Thunder had a 37-7 advantage in the points-off-turnovers category, a ridiculously lopsided total. But that starts with Oklahoma City forcing Denver into a whopping 23 turnovers, all but seven of which came on Thunder steals. Then, OKC turned a lot of those into fastbreak opportunities.<\/p>\n

The Thunder held a 27-14 advantage in transition.<\/p>\n

The flip side to those lopsided numbers is, of course, that the Thunder only committed 10 turnovers. In a high-stakes, high-pressure Game 7 against a top-shelf opponent, OKC took great care of the ball. All of that made its advantageous nature of scoring off Denver turnovers even more of a positive.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Jenni Carlson<\/p>\n

More: When do Western Conference finals start? Times, TV schedule for Thunder vs Timberwolves<\/a><\/p>\n

Thunder bench: B+\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mark Daigneault shortened his rotation to eight players Sunday night. The five starters plus Alex Caruso, Cason Wallace and Aaron Wiggins off the bench.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Neither Jaylin Williams nor Isaiah Joe played in meaningful minutes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Caruso was a two-way monster. Wiggins, who took the third-most shots on the team, wasn\u2019t efficient, but he made a big 3-pointer to beat a shot-clock buzzer and had a nice put-back slam on a Chet Holmgren missed 3-pointer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Wallace was a defensive menace and was a plus-38 in his minutes. Caruso was a team-best plus-40.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2014\u00a0Joe Mussatto<\/p>\n

More: Thunder take next step, but Shai-Gilgeous Alexander & Co. have a lot left to prove<\/a><\/p>\n

Aaron Gordon: B<\/p>\n

The Nugget wing was doubtful to play heading into the game after suffering a hamstring injury, but even though there were times he looked a bit gimpy, Gordon was tough as nails.<\/p>\n

He scored eight points on 2-of-4 shooting and grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds.<\/p>\n

Amazing stuff for a guy who was probably struggling to jump.<\/p>\n

When a guy has a bad hamstring and tries to play through it, that\u2019s often when you see someone hurting their team more than they\u2019re helping. But Gordon didn\u2019t hurt the Nuggets. Yes, he had four turnovers, maybe more than you\u2019d like, but Jokic had five and as far as we know, his hamstring was fine.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Jenni Carlson<\/p>\n

More: Run, gun and stun. Thunder’s offensive options, suffocating defense too much for Nuggets<\/a><\/p>\n

Pregame atmosphere: A<\/p>\n

A note to any fans who\u2019ve never gotten into the arena early before a playoff game: You should experience it at least once.<\/p>\n

The pregame atmosphere at Paycom Center is really pretty cool. Lots of fans get in their seats early, which makes for a loud arena, then there\u2019s the whole put-on-your-T-shirt thing, which Thunder fans take super seriously. They often do a fan lip sync, then the scene when the players come onto the court is worth catching. It\u2019s loud and lively with plenty of special lighting and effects.<\/p>\n

Yes, the game itself is the atmosphere that matters most, but tip of the cap to the game-ops folks and to the fans. The scene before tipoff is hyped.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Jenni Carlson<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Thunder did its best to remove any drama Game 7s are supposed to be infused with.\u00a0 After…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":43103,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3781],"tags":[260,1289,407,328,7,408,618,366,311,301,187,3943,948,619,947,949,54,79,6,67,302,310,179,61,134,65,132,66,83,55,64,312,63,82,3681],"class_list":{"0":"post-43102","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-denver-nuggets","8":"tag-aaron","9":"tag-aaron-wiggins","10":"tag-alex","11":"tag-alex-caruso","12":"tag-basketball","13":"tag-caruso","14":"tag-chet","15":"tag-chet-holmgren","16":"tag-city","17":"tag-denver","18":"tag-denver-nuggets","19":"tag-denvernuggets","20":"tag-hartenstein","21":"tag-holmgren","22":"tag-isaiah","23":"tag-isaiah-hartenstein","24":"tag-modular","25":"tag-modular-story","26":"tag-nba","27":"tag-news","28":"tag-nuggets","29":"tag-oklahoma","30":"tag-oklahoma-city-thunder","31":"tag-overall","32":"tag-overall-positive","33":"tag-point","34":"tag-positive","35":"tag-sports","36":"tag-sports-news","37":"tag-story","38":"tag-the","39":"tag-thunder","40":"tag-to","41":"tag-to-the-point","42":"tag-wiggins"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/114534851770617431","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43102","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43102"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43102\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43103"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43102"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43102"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}