OKC reacts and delivers a historic thrashing to Denver
The Thunder have crushed the Nuggets in a game that was already decided in the first quarter
A local team finally managed to build a big enough lead in this season's NBA conference semifinals.
The Oklahoma City Thunder, just two nights after squandering a double-digit lead in the first-game loss to the Denver Nuggets, dominated with authority, winning 149-106 in the second game played on Wednesday, becoming the first home team to win in this round of the playoffs.
"We knew what was at stake tonight," declared Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, aware that the top two seeds from the East—Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics—had both fallen 0-2 in their respective series. "We came out with urgency."
Gilgeous-Alexander excelled from the opening tip until the end of the third quarter, leaving the game with his team ahead by 48 points. He finished with 34 points and eight assists, an impressive 11 of 13 from the field and a flawless 11 of 11 from the free-throw line.
The Thunder outscored the Nuggets by 51 points during the 30 minutes Gilgeous-Alexander was on the court, marking the best plus/minus differential in a playoff game since that statistic began being recorded in the 1997-98 season.
Denver's center, Nikola Jokic—a three-time MVP and expected to finish second in this year's voting behind Shai—did not complete the third quarter. He was ejected for accumulating fouls with 1:17 to play in that period after being penalized for an illegal screen while the Thunder held a 51-point lead. Unbelievable that Jokic played it all out despite his ejection.
This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, OKC reacciona y le mete una paliza histórica a Denver
