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It was admirable that the Denver Nuggets, a team with such a shallow roster, were able to push the 68-win Oklahoma City Thunder to a seventh game in their Western Conference semifinal clash. But with Aaron Gordon dealing with a hamstring strain that would keep him out for an extended period under regular circumstances, the odds were stacked against the Nuggets in Game 7 — requiring a huge game from members of the team's supporting cast, most notably from veteran Russell Westbrook.
Westbrook has the most playoff experience among all members of the Nuggets roster, and as an agent of chaos, he can swing the game in either direction. Alas, it didn't quite go as planned for Westbrook and the Nuggets, with the 2017 NBA MVP and Thunder legend's execution in their do-or-die game short-circuiting more often than not.
While Westbrook made two triples and did not take too many ill-advised shots, his carelessness with the ball was brutal and led to a major storm from the Thunder that the Nuggets could not weather. The 36-year-old guard threw plenty of wayward passes in an attempt to get Nikola Jokic going, and he turned the ball over four times as a result. In the end, Westbrook was a team-worst -34 for the Nuggets in their 125-93 defeat and received plenty of clowning on social media as a result.
“Westbrook a team leading -34 today… nails in the coffin,” X user @bball_Benn wrote.
“Westbrook was disappointing this series. This should have been the series where he plays his absolute best, yes because he returns to his old team. I thought we were going to see some vintage Westbrook for sure,” @hoodie0low added.
“Westbrook so a** hang it tf up,” @JaylenWP expressed.
“Thank you Russell Westbrook, truly the best OKC player tonight 🙏,” @Darionyw_ furthered.
Russell Westbrook, Nuggets flame out against the Thunder
Russell Westbrook brings plenty of intangibles to the table, and by and large, he was a net positive for the Nuggets when taking the entirety of the 2024-25 season into account. But Westbrook being the first guy off the bench for the Nuggets in the Thunder series became a greater and greater symptom of how shallow their roster has become over the years.
Westbrook didn't just have a poor Game 7, he had a poor series against the Thunder. He put up a poor stat line of 9.9 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game on horrific shooting splits of 35/22/70, and couldn't leave much of a dent in the second chapter of his purported revenge tour against his former teams.
