Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 35 points as the Oklahoma City Thunder thrashed the Denver Nuggets 125-93 to book their place in the NBA Western Conference finals on Sunday.
After a back-and-forth series with little to choose between the two teams, the top-seeded Thunder asserted their dominance in a one-sided game seven to seal a 4-3 series victory.
The win sends Oklahoma City into a showdown with Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves for a place in next month’s NBA Finals, with game one set for Tuesday.
“It feels good,” Gilgeous-Alexander said after the win. “Obviously our ultimate goal isn’t just the Western Conference finals — but we’ve got to go through there to get there.
“We put it together tonight and now we’ve got four games to go get against a really good team in the Timberwolves and that’s what we’re focused on.”
Gilgeous-Alexander, who is vying with Denver’s Nikola Jokic for the NBA’s Most Valuable Player award, was backed by 24 points from Jalen Williams.
The Nuggets scoring was led by Jokic with 20 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, while Christian Braun added 19 and Jamal Murray 13.
Denver though were left counting the cost of an error-strewn performance that saw them cough up 23 turnovers which the Thunder’s livewire offense ruthlessly converted into 37 points.
© Agence France-Presse
Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images
