DENVER – The celebrations have started even before the final buzzer rings, the Denver Nuggets players kissing and welcoming themselves for a well -done work, a prolonged series and a saved season.
At the opposite end of the courtyard, a thick layer of melancholy was present. Oklahoma coach City Thunder, Mark Daignaut, dodged under the tunnel, waving with his fingers as if he was trying to write a room that would attenuate the collective pain of his team. One by one, the players went to the locker room, their heads looking at the ground – while while the Ball Arena hoots were raining on them.
And for as much optimism that the locker rooms described afterwards, there was no exhaust of reality that Oklahoma City had left a slide gold opportunity. Thursday evening, the Thunder had a chance – several chances, to be honest – to put away the nuggets. To avoid the tension and nervousness that can come with a match 7. To go to their first final of the Western Conference in almost a decade.
They did not do it.
“I thought we played a very good first half,” said Daignault after the defeat of 119-107 of Oklahoma City in match 6. “To resist the early storm as we did and that we were down only three at the end of the first quarter, it was positive. We obviously took control of the game in the second (quarter), which was positive. Load in the second half.
In match 6, the Nuggets, already playing a short rotation, finally decided to impose their physically will on a team of young Thunder. In truth, the sublime and high efficiency nights of Shai Gilgeous-Aalexander (30 points out of 11 out of 16) and Nikola Jokić (29 points on the shooting of 9 out of 14) felt almost secondary, with players like Christian Braun and Julian Strawther invent when the lights were the most brilliant. Denver has decided to force the problem, regularly attacking the teeth of the defense of Oklahoma City and putting the burden on the officials to make calls – the Nuggets finished the game by taking twice as many free throws as their counterparts, 32 to 16. The Thunder did not establish a solid foot on the glass, allowing the Nuggets to dominate 52 to 40 years.
“They punch this evening because it happened in this series,” said Daigneault. “The two teams exchange shots, and they got it this evening.”
If there was a word to describe the offensive process of the Thunder – and their defensive approach sometimes – it was flat. According to Cleaning the Glass, their 92.0 points for 100 half-zone games classified in the 33rd centile post-season performance-well below their standard. And it was not that they coughing the ball of a ton (only 11 reversals) or had a poor quality of shooting (the operating word this evening was their “process”), but a team that outside the teams looked lethargic.
Fatigue, although a true aspect of professional sports and daily life, cannot be quoted as an excuse. Denver crosses the same thing, plays fewer guys and is older. It was like the nuggets research This is more, which is a precarious position to occupy, even for a Thunder team that has done so much this season. There is no single size in match 7. Sunday evening in Oklahoma City will be the most high pressure situation of these Thunder players, against an experienced group and tested in battle.
Daigneault said that Denver had surpassed his team for most of the series outside two sections of the fourth quarter. The main objective of the nuggets was the neutralization of the threat of score of Gilgeous-Alexander, throwing a mixture of areas filled with pressure in their way and forcing someone else to assume the load.
The problem is that Jalen Williams, the SGA running mate and an All-Star, is in trouble. After having on average nearly 22 points per game during the regular season, Williams failed to resume 20 points five times this series alone. In match 5, Williams had his worst score outing, finishing with only six points on the shooting of 3 out of 16. The goal of Williams in other areas was generally his endearing factor, and he recorded seven rebounds, three interceptions, a block and 10 assists on Thursday. And Williams is hard with himself, lingering on the bench after the final buzzer to think about his offensive performance less than stellar. But there is a balance between Williams, the creator, and Williams, the scorer, whom he and Thunder must rediscover quickly.
“I think I got to the places where I want to go and they have not entered; that’s how basketball works,” he said. “I think I had a good process of what I was doing. I hurt us tonight not to make any blows. ”
Over the next 48 hours, the Thunder will have the chance to return to the film hall and identify exactly what was wrong in match 6. Some preventable and simple errors cost them the first problems that have a unique way to interrupt the pace and the flow, boxing and are not overpowered by a team that is elbow in the department of rebound for the after -season session – At one point in the first half, the Thunder had managed to erase a two-digit deficit and build one of their own, before slowly losing control. The nature of the back and forth of this series is almost a game of a deserving end and adjusted to this match.
“It will be very fun,” said Gilgeous-Alexander. “The most intense basketball that you have ever played. But at the same time, it’s always just basketball. Have fun, play freely and let them fall where they can.”
But Oklahoma City must play with the same despair that Denver has shown in match 6, if not exponentially more. The Paycc Center is an electric and dynamic building which is a culture in itself, and its heat will breed a Thunder team looking for advantages. This is a team that won 68 regular season games, so there is no plethora of errors to approach. This series, at least from an angle, can be boiled in the boldness nugget area of thunder to surpass them; This bet borne fruit, Oklahoma City pulling only 27.5 and 24.4% out of 3 of the last three games. Make open photos, as shot as it may seem, will greatly help to establish nerves and minds.
“Huge,” said Lu sleeps Athletics On the importance of a home crowd and a camaraderie in an elimination game. “The unit we have in our team is crazy. You can see in this locker room, even after a loss like that, everyone’s head is broken, and we always have the same atmosphere that we have had all season. We have to group, watch the film, go better and see what we can do for match 7.”
(Photo by Thunder Guard Alex Caruso: Isaiah J. Downing / Imagn Images)
