OKC Thunder's Game 7 Experience is Limited But Helpful

Oklahoma City has far less experience in the postseason than Denver, but any experience is better than none.

The Thunder will be looking to punch their ticket to the Western Conference Finals for the first time since 2016 when they host the Denver Nuggets on Sunday in Game 7. Coming off a Game 7 win in the first round and entering the seventh Game 7 of the Nikola Jokic era, the Nuggets are no strangers to the win-or-go-home scenario. 

While this will be the first true road Game 7 in this era for Denver, it will be the first Game 7 at all for most of the Thunder’s roster. However, the Thunder still have three players who have graced the court for a Game 7, all starters.

The Thunder last played in a Game 7 in the first round in 2020 in the bubble against the Houston Rockets, falling 104-102. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Lu Dort were both on the floor for that matchup, and will again face a Game 7 against Russell Westbrook.

Gilgeous-Alexander was only in his second season but was still critical for the Thunder, scoring 19 points on 6-of-11 shooting to finish as the team’s second-leading scorer. While the Thunder would love to see much more from Gilgeous-Alexander on Sunday, they would happily take a repeat of Dort’s lone Game 7 performance.

After struggling to shoot and being left open throughout that series against Houston, Dort exploded for a game-high 30 points and nailed six threes to nearly become the hero for Oklahoma City. After experiencing that heartbreak in a fanless bubble, they will be rewarded with a rowdy Paycom Center crowd for their next try.

Finally, Isaiah Hartenstein is the only other Thunder player to play in a Game 7, doing so last season in the second round for the New York Knicks. Hartenstein went scoreless as the starting center in the Knicks’ 130-109 defeat while finishing with eight rebounds. After a disappointing finish on his home floor in the 2024 season, Hartenstein will look to take advantage of his second Game 7 opportunity.

Although he didn’t play in the Philadelphia 76ers’ Game 7 loss to the Atlanta Hawks in 2021, Isaiah Joe has still seen a do-or-die matchup up close. While he was only a rookie for that game, Joe has been inside a Game 7 locker room and knows what he could do to give the Thunder a slight advantage in his likely limited minutes.

While the Thunder have only three players with true Game 7 experience and another who was on a roster, they have another player whose experience is just as important. Alex Caruso has never played in a win-or-go-home setting, but he has won a championship and knows that closeout games are always the toughest. The Thunder couldn’t finish the job in Game 6 and now must close out Denver on Sunday or watch their season come to an end.