The Oklahoma City Thunder were nearly in the clear in Game 1 of their second-round matchup against the Denver Nuggets. The Nuggets ended up trimming their lead to one, 115-114, but a Russell Westbrook missed triple and a blocked Aaron Gordon putback forced both teams into the free-throw game. After Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokic alternated two free throws, the Thunder were in command, as they were up by three and Denver didn't even have Jokic out on the court after wanting to protect him from his sixth foul.

But that's when the game went off the rails for the Thunder. They fouled Aaron Gordon even though the Nuggets hadn't yet even gotten the ball across the timeline, and Gordon made both free throws to trim the deficit to one. OKC then called their final timeout and had the ball inbounded to Chet Holmgren, who had a chance to ice the game with two free throws.

Holmgren proceeded to clank both free throws, opening up the door for the Nuggets to steal the game. That's exactly what they did; they got the ball out in semi-transition, and Russell Westbrook found an open Gordon on the left wing for three and the 29-year-old forward promptly swished the shot en route to a 121-119 loss for OKC.

The Thunder's decision to foul while up by three and with Jokic off the court will be second-guessed by a ton of pundits in the coming days. But this decision of theirs would not have cost them anyway if it weren't for Holmgren's free-throw misses, making him a huge target for fans on social media.

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Aaron Gordon makes Game 1 a night to forget for Chet Holmgren, Thunder

Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon (32) shoots a three point basket to win
© Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

The Thunder, for much of Game 1, played like the usually dominant team that they are. They forced plenty of turnovers and made plenty of timely triples to keep the Nuggets at bay.

Even Chet Holmgren, prior to his free-throw woes in the endgame, was having a good game (aside from the foul trouble he was in). But then Aaron Gordon made life difficult for him all night long, and the young Thunder center was on the receiving end of plenty of social media clowning as a result.

“chet holmgren gotta be having nightmares about that game bro dunked on by aaron gordon, missed game winning fts, game winning three hit by aaron gordon over his head i would actually kill myself right there,” X user @br3adm0ld wrote.

“Round 2 Game 1 is going to give Chet Holmgren nightmares. Dunked on by Aaron Gordan, misses a wide open dunk, misses two clutch FTs, and gets gamed on. Brutal…” @GoatGiddey added.