Denver Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic, center, and the rest of the bench watch play against the Oklahoma City Thunder late in the second half of Game 2 in the conference semifinals of the NBA basketball playoffs, Wednesday, May 7, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Kyle Phillips)
DENVER— The Denver Nuggets held what essentially was a group therapy session Thursday after their 43-point demolition at the hands of the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 2 of their second-round playoff series.
“You can’t just say, ‘Hey, let’s just have a mental day. Move on. We’re good, we split,” interim coach David Adelman said. “That’s not the case. If we want to win Game 3 things have to be different.”
READ: NBA: Gilgeous-Alexander, Thunder roll past Nuggets to tie West semis
Starting with their mentality, he said.
“In the NBA playoffs, a lot of the time the whistle and the way the game is played is who hits first,” Adelman said. “And I thought they hit first, second and third. … And tomorrow we have to be the aggressor, and I expect us to be.”
Adelman said the film review, albeit uncomfortable, proved productive.
Denver Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic (15) and Oklahoma City Thunder’s Isaiah Hartenstein (55) react to an officials call in the second half of Game 1 of an NBA basketball second-round playoff series Monday, May 5, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Nate Billings)
“A lot of guys had thoughts on what they felt last night,” Adelman said. “And that allows you to move on and do things better tomorrow night.”
Adelman said the general sentiment was one of embarrassment.
“There was a lot of people speaking up and saying, ‘I can do better,’ which I love,” Adelman said. “And then there’s the film never lies, that kind of thing.”
READ: NBA: Gordon game-winner lifts Nuggets anew, Thunder drop Game 1
The series shifts to Denver on Friday night, the Nuggets’ sixth game since April 29 whereas the top-seeded Thunder entered this semifinal series on nine days’ rest after sweeping Memphis in Round 1.
Denver survived a brutal seven-game series with the Los Angeles Clippers and 48 hours later beat Oklahoma City in the opener on Aaron Gordon’s 3-pointer that capped a frenetic comeback in the final minutes.
It all caught up to them Wednesday night when they fell behind in the opening minutes of Game 2 and watched the Thunder run away with it without any real resistance.
READ: NBA playoffs: Youthful Thunder face experienced Nuggets
“I don’t want to say we weren’t ready to play,” Adelman said. “I think we weren’t ready to play at that level. And when they came out the way they did, I thought our reaction to it took a really long time to understand what kind of game it was.”
Adelman said of all the things the Nuggets need to correct, “it comes down to the mentality of how we play tomorrow. And we had a great mentality in Game 1. People can say, ‘Oh, you were behind in Game 1, too.’ But it never felt like we let go of the rope. And yesterday I felt we let go of the rope and I felt they also played at an extremely high level.”
Adelman acknowledged fatigue was a factor in Denver’s dismal performance.
“I’ll say this: fatigue is a word you can use when you lose in the playoffs and that is a factor, but fatigue is part of what the postseason is,” Adelman said. “And finding that next level, your second wind, your third wind, collectively finding energy from each other, is how you win these games.
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“And there’s a million ways to break things down: oh, they’re playing more people than you or they had eight days off. All those things are true. But the other truth is well, we had enough energy to win Game 1 two days after winning a Game 7. So, why not have enough energy last night? I think the guys have it in them and I think they’ll bring it tomorrow night.”
