Instant reaction from the Nuggets’ 149-106 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 2 of their second-round NBA Playoffs series:
1. Scott Foster strikes again!: You know a game’s taking a truly weird turn when Patrick Beverley is crying foul. Literally. The quotable ex-NBA guard raised a flag during the first half of an ugly Nuggets-Thunder Game 2, posting to X that, “They calling this game a lil diff.” Darn straight. With 8:10 left in the contest, the Nuggets had been whistled for 27 fouls to OKC’s 19. But the gap felt a heck of a lot wider than that. And even so-called neutral observers went to social media to point out that officials seemed to have two strike zones: While the Thunder could get handsy with Nikola Jokic, the Nuggets were whistled early and often for just looking at Shai Gilgeous-Alexander wrong. Not to dredge up conspiracy theories, but it should be noted that Wednesday was veteran official Scott Foster’s first game back on the sidelines in two months. So … yeah.
Nuggets destroyed by Thunder in Game 2 as Nikola Jokic fouls out in third quarter
2. Should Adelman have pulled his dudes earlier?: That said, the refs aren’t the reason why OKC couldn’t miss from downtown. Not to give hockey guys some love, but remember the Avs’ glorious 4-0 win over Dallas in Game 4? Feels like a decade ago, but hear us out. Stars coach Pete DeBoer pulled his starting goalie, Jake Oettinger, before the third period with Colorado up 3-0 because he knew his No. 1 guy needed a reset, that there wasn’t a likely path back into the game, and that it was going to be a long series. So with his team down 104-69 with 5:17 left in the third quarter, why did interim coach David Adelman have all five of his starters on the floor? Because if this is going to be a long series, you need to know when to walk away from a lost cause — and when to run.
3. The worst kind of history: If you love negative superlatives, Wednesday’s disastrous first half was for you — on about 35 different levels. With 0.5 seconds left, Chet Holmgren’s two free-throw makes — yep, two makes — gave the Thunder 87 points at the halftime break. That’s not just a new Nuggets all-time worst for points given up in a postseason game — it’s the new NBA record for the most points a team has ever put up in a half of a playoff contest. The old record, 86, was set by the Cleveland Cavaliers against the Golden State Warriors in Game 4 of the 2017 NBA Finals. The Nuggets weren’t just a mess defensively. They were a walking dumpster fire. The Thunder drained 71% of its first-quarter attempts from the floor and raced out to a 45-21 cushion after a period. OKC shot a 59% clip in the first half while turning the ball over just twice. Woof.
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