Oklahoma City Thunder squeak past the Denver Nuggets 100-97, reach conference semi-finals
Kevin Durant tied his playoff high 41 points as Oklahoma City (OKC) Thunder ended the Denver Nuggets post season journey at the Oklahoma City Arena. In a close contest,
both set of players seemed to struggle with scoring as apart from Durant, no one went past the 15 point mark. The game itself was thoroughly entertaining, as the Nuggets put up a valiant effort to stay alive. Their efforts however just fell short as they went
down 100-97.
OKC had a chance to close out the series in the last game, but the Nuggets fought back late to extend the series into a game-5. That night, they played with steely
determination and for once in the series, kept their nerve in the final stretch. However, on Wednesday night they again failed down the stretch. This time it cost them series.
The Nuggets started brightly and took advantage of the Thunder’s early struggles from the field, taking the lead in the first quarter. OKC shot only 36.6 from the
field in the first twelve minutes. Although Okc continued to struggle with their shooting in the next two quarters, they never fell too far behind and were always within the striking range.
Denver had 5 players in double digits, but the low team high of 15 from Arron Afflalo meant that the offense lacked a cutting edge. Thunder had scoring problems of
their own-apart from Durant of course. Russell Westbrook had only 14 and Serge Ibaka scored only 1 the whole game. Ibaka seemed to have turned focus on defense as he blocked an astonishing 9 shots.
The game was finely poised entering the fourth quarter with the score at 76-72 in Denver’s favour. The Nuggets started the fourth quarter with a bang and went on
an 8-2 run as they established a 9 point lead, the largest in the game, with 4 minutes left to play. With time running out and the Thunder’s players generally struggling to score, Kevin Durant decided to step up and deliver.
Denver’s troubles in the final period in the series have been well documented. A major reason for that is the lack of a truly gifted player, like Kevin Durant, on
their roster. And Durant served them a painful reminder of what they are missing.
The Denver players had no answer to Durant as he led a relentless charge against them. He scored 14 of his team’s final 18 points, with the Nuggets only managing
6 in reply. He drained a 3 to start off the comeback. He then went into a frenzy sinking jumpers, setting up teammates and getting to the line. He even blocked a shot during that stretch. It was that kind of night for Kevin Durant, who not only left the Bronchos,
but his own home crowd bewildered as well.
Even when Raymond Felton made his free throws to give the Nuggets the lead again at 97-96, Durant just refused to stop. He hit four consecutive points, including
the clutch jumper that turned out to be the winning shot. Arron Afflalo missed his three at the death as the Nuggets bowed out.
With this win, the Thunder rocketed to the 2nd round for the first time since they moved to Oklahoma from Seattle. This was a big achievement for the franchise
and the city. Over 18,000 fans had flocked to show their support in the game, including Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin.
After pulling off one of the biggest playoff nights in his career, Kevin Durant said that he just didn’t want to go back to Denver for game-6, so he decided to end
the series here. With a player like that in their ranks, the Thunder will be raring to go no matter who they face next.
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