Dean Blevins: OKC crushes Nuggets; are they the next NBA champions?

You wouldn’t know it by watching Stephen A. Smith’s Monday morning show, First Take, but the OKC Thunder steamrolled shorthanded Denver in Game 7 of Round 2 and has advanced to the Western Conference Semis. Watching well over two hours of Stephen’s popular morning program, instead of leading with the freshest and most significant game & the remarkable Thunder story, what Americans & NBA fans worldwide saw was tons of Knicks – Stevie’s fave – and Celtics, and WNBA, and Lord knows what else.

Nothing personal, because I’ve lived it and understand it. Doesn’t mean I like it. Having been in this business for a fifth decade and experiencing firsthand the network thinking of mostly East Coast producers and content specialists, it’s not hard to understand the logic of maximizing big market stories and games. Unfortunately, compelling small-market games and stories from Flyover Country are not in high demand. Hard-core sports fans appreciate analysis & thorough conversation about a team like OKC. It just doesn’t sit well with me that the Thunder’s big win & favorite’s role was effectively ignored to us loyal viewers in the 405 & 918.

You can cover a lot of ground with two hours of content. Today, apparently, the Thunder’s 125-93 thrashing of Denver got chopped to the cutting room floor. Coincidentally, ESPN’s other early morning show, GET UP!, correctly led with the OKC win this morning. But a week ago, even that show waited 32 minutes in, to address a Thunder win, which was clearly one of, if not the biggest, story of the night before.

First Take couldn’t have asked for a better story – except for a non-game day Knicks discussion, that is. OKC’s win was headlined by the presumptive league MVP Shai Gilgeous Alexander and his brilliant 35-point clutch exhibition, enhanced by a sterling team performance and capped by a victory sending Lil’ Ole OKC to the NBA’s Final Four. Should count for something that small market, OKC is officially the betting favorite to win an NBA Championship.

Before moving on, we have to send out big-time kudos to Jalen Williams. J-Dub’s been shaky at times in the postseason. But not Sunday. Dub exploded by mostly attacking the rim with 17 of his 24 points coming in the second quarter, fueling an 18-5 run just before half. A broader view saw OKC trail 21-10 in the first seven minutes before exploding on a 50-24 run to end the half with a 16-point halftime lead.

But you know what? That type of intentional oversight would make a title only that much more rewarding.

Odds to win NBA Championship, per ESPN Bet:

1. OKC -175
2. NYK +460
3. T-Wolves +575
4. Pacers +675

A lot of things crossed my mind, including head coach Mark Daignault saying postgame,

“It was our best energy game and activity game. They drummed it up for Game 7. I just give them a lot of credit. … There aren’t many games (when) you wake up in the morning and you know that you’re going to remember the game for the rest of your life, and Game 7 is one of them.”

The Game 7 MVP could’ve gone to multiple OKC players. SGA played one of his best all-around games, admitting afterwards of admitted nerves for himself and his exclusive 25 & Under Club of Professional Thumpers.

But the true Game 7 MVP entered and put the clamps on the “world’s best player,” limiting Joker to just nine field goal attempts—his five makes equaling his five turnovers, and surely didn’t sleep a wink Sunday night with visions of Caruso, Cason Wallace, Lou Dort, etc., dashing in and out of his head all night long.

With his shorthanded mates not up to the challenge, the Thunder made Game 7 a hellish nightmare for the big Serb. Remnants of a flu hamstrung Jamal Murray. A Grade 2 actual hamstring strain limited the gutty Aaron Gordon’s effectiveness, and his lack of acceleration was exploited by OKC’s Mad Scientist. Michael Porter’s bum shoulder resulted in more harm to the Coloradans than good. Russell Westbrook continued to be an asset in various ways; unfortunately, his helter-skelter play and decision-making were an asset to his former team, not his current one. So to be fair, it was an awesome win and accomplishment for the Thunder. But this was not your father’s Nuggets. They simply ran out of gas. OKC’s bench is never-ending. Denver is thinner than Chet Holmgren after a month with Jenny Craig.

The 2025 OKC Thunder are indeed favorites to tote Ol’ Larry O’Brien back to the 405. And just as majestic for Thunder fanatics, OKC is built to contend for titles for at least five more seasons. But they probably won’t ever have as clear a path to the title unfurling itself in a manageable way as it has now. Any of the Final Four could win the thing. The open path is sans the Top 2 teams in the East, Cleveland and Boston, and four of the top five teams in the West.

No doubt Minnesota will be a bear—they’re 25-5 since March 2, including playoffs. But there’ve been bigger bears. And OKC’s already installed as a 7.5-point Game 1 favorite.

The decision in Minneapolis to swap Karl-Anthony Towns for Julius Randle & Donte DiVincenzo last summer has resulted in a return to the West Finals. They’ve got dogs. And a burgeoning megastar in Anthony Edwards who can take over a game faster than you can say John Doe. By the way, who’ll get the most time defending Antman? Dort, Wallace, Caruso? Yup, Ant’s stout. But he’ll be challenged by equally stout defenders from tip to final horn.

Gordon spoke highly of OKC afterwards, not a given in today’s game. Said OKC’s got quite the squad. Very interchangeable with a lot of pesky defenders. Unconfirmed reports have the Joker slapping himself ‘upside the face’, hearing his pal compliment OKC’s “pesky defenders.”

I could write for days about the impressive things OKC continues to do. I tweeted that OKC is shattering so many records that its next record will be the number of times they’ve set records. Speaking of … Caruso finished with a plus/minus rating of plus-40! That’s the highest plus/minus by a reserve in Game 7s this century. My guy, Cool Hand Luke—otherwise known as Cason Wallace—was nipping at his heels with a tidy plus-38.

Can’t get back to chopping wood & putting out wildfires without sending kudos to Jalen Williams. J-Dub’s been shaky at times in the postseason. But not Sunday. Dub exploded by mostly attacking the rim with 17 of his 24 points coming in the second quarter, fueling an 18-5 run just before half. A broader view saw OKC trail 21-10 in the first seven minutes before exploding on a 50-24 run to end the half with a 16-point halftime lead.

Finally, one of the best things about the status of the 2025 Thunder is that if they win the NBA Championship, they’ll have a great chance of repeating. For now, it’s powder blue skies around here (with a tad of tornado warnings coming our way as I type), and a delicious-looking conference final series looming. And no need for a calendar to mark game days. Big Blue and Minnie commence this chase-to-the-finals Tuesday at 7:30 at Paycom. And play every other day till one team has won four. I’ve got the home team as a very slight favorite to win the series in seven games.