Nuggets collapse in second quarter, Thunder take Game 7 in a blowout

The Denver Nuggets were leading the Oklahoma City Thunder by five points after the first quarter in Game 7 on Sunday.

Then it all fell apart.

The Nuggets had a brutal second quarter, one that started with Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray on the bench, and they could never get back in the basketball game. OKC outscored them 39-20 on their way to a 125-93 blowout. The third and fourth quarters were also extremely ugly, but this one was long since over.

The Thunder are headed to the Western Conference Finals to face the Minnesota Timberwolves — and the Nuggets season is done.

It was indeed a promising start to the winner-take-all showdown, as Denver built an early 11-point lead. But then the bench, led by Russell Westbrook, checked into the game. That is when everything came unraveled.

Westbrook finished -23 in the first half, with Oklahoma City carrying a 60-46 lead into the break. They closed on a 20-7 run, taking a contest that was close to out of hand. Westbrook finished the game -34.

Overall, Jokic put up 20 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. He got some help from Christian Braun who chipped in 19 points, and Aaron Gordon gutted through a hamstring strain to add eight points and 11 rebounds.

But Murray was mostly a ghost, finishing with 13 points on 6-16 shooting. Michael Porter Jr. continued his poor play with a lousy six points (0-4 from three) and the Nuggets got very little from their bench with guys like Westbrook, Peyton Watson and Julian Strawther.

It was still a fun season for Denver, rallying to force a Game 7 with a team that won 68 regular season games in OKC. Interim head coach David Adelman has a real case for the full-time position, after the Nuggets took out the Clippers in Round 1 in seven games then pushed the Thunder to the brink.

But those are conversations to be had in the coming days. For now, this one will sting, as it should.

Nuggets fans and players will be thinking about the fateful second quarter that sent things out of control, as well as blown leads in Games 4 and 5, all offseason long.

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