The Oklahoma City Thunder are heading to the Western Conference finals for the first time since 2016 after a dominant 125-93 Game 7 win over the Denver Nuggets on Sunday afternoon. The Thunder defense was absolutely suffocating,

Those points didn’t come because the Thunder were bombing away from 3 — they shot 30.8% on the night — but in the paint, where the Thunder scored 64 points before both coach

Aaron Gordon willed himself to play through pain, embodying a gritty playoff run by the Nuggets. But resilience and toughness weren’t enough against the Thunder.