OKC Thunder Bounce Back, Route Denver Nuggets in Game 2

The Oklahoma City Thunder had a tall task at hand in Game 2 of the second round of the NBA playoffs. They needed to take down the Denver Nuggets at the Paycom Center following a shocking Game 1 defeat and they did exactly that, blowing them out with a final score of 149-106.

It was always going to be important for the Thunder to get off to a hot start. The Game 1 loss certainly felt like a punch to the gut to start the second round and the only plausible response to the loss would be a quick start for the next game.

That's exactly what Oklahoma City did. In general, the Thunder were clicking on all cylinders in the first quarter. They got out to a 45-21 start in the opening 12 minutes, shooting 71.4% from the field and 55.6% from the perimeter.

OKC's chemistry was on full display to start this game, racking up assists on seven of its first nine made field goals. Only two of those makes came from star guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, making the quick offensive start even more impressive.

The hot shooting seeped into the second quarter. Even without Gilgeous-Alexander on the court, the Thunder continued to pour it on the Nuggets from multiple areas of the court. It didn't matter who was doing the scoring, either. Everyone was getting in on the fun, from the top to the bottom of the depth chart.

With Gilgeous-Alexander on the court, however, that's where the Thunder were the most dangerous. He was hitting from all of his spots and finished the game with 34 points on 11-for-13 shooting, while adding eight assists to his final total. Arguably, the most impressive statistic of the entire game came at the hands of Gilgeous-Alexander, finishing with a game-high plus-51 plus-minus by the time his playing time was complete.

OKC's superstar did everything for them, which was reflected by his box score plus-minus. That plus-51 was also the highest ever by an NBA player in the modern era of basketball.

Forward Aaron Wiggins was a beneficiary of the distributed scoring, finishing the game with 10 points on perfect shooting. Sharpshooter Isaiah Joe was also very effective, finishing with 14 points on 5-for-5 shooting, four of which came from the perimeter.

By the end of the first half, OKC had appeared to effectively bury the Denver Nuggets. The Thunder led 87-56 with two more quarters to play, setting an NBA playoff record for most points in a single half.

It wouldn't really matter how well the Nuggets played in the third quarter because of the large hole they were already in. They did go on an 11-2 run halfway through the quarter headlined by guard Jamal Murray and star big man Nikola Jokic, but they still trailed by 30 points after its completion.

Pinpointing someone who had a bad game for the Thunder is basically impossible. Everyone, in some way, made an important contribution to the large victory. One of those players is starting center Isaiah Hartenstein, who did just about everything for the Thunder. He finished with 14 points, eight rebounds and five assists on an efficient 6-for-7 shooting.

The Thunder opted to play most of their starters for all of the third quarter, outside of Hartenstein, in favor of Jaylin Williams. This allowed them to empty the bench in the fourth quarter with a 48-point cushion to stand on.

To make matters worse for the Denver Nuggets, Jokic fouled out right before the conclusion of the third quarter. He finished the game with 17 points, eight rebounds and six assists this time around. His Game 2 statline was far worse than Game 1, seemingly a reason for the large deficit they faced.

Former Thunder guard Russell Westbrook was the leading scorer for the Nuggets off the bench, finishing with 19 points on 5-for-11 shooting, along with five assists. His hot playoff streak continues this postseason, despite the loss.

The two squads will face off at 9 p.m. CT on Friday, May 9 in Denver for Game 3 of the series.