Researching the Nuggets

Jamal Murray, Jokic's best partner, played 39 minutes and went off for 41 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists.

As the Nuggets' most explosive scorer that night, Kobe Mamba had delivered another signature performance in his career.

"I'm Murray! I'm not a bum!"~~

The Warriors, meanwhile, hadn't exactly played poorly. Curry, Klay, and Wiggins had all performed as expected.

Curry finished with 31 points, 5 rebounds, and 8 assists; Klay had 28, 7, and 4; Wiggins put up 19, 9, and 5.

The Warriors' perimeter trio had done nothing wrong on offense—if you didn't judge them by the standard of a Game 7.

But the reality was that this was a Game 7!

If the Warriors couldn't contain Jokic and Murray on defense, and couldn't mount a powerful enough response on offense, then their defeat was only natural.

Chen Xi—or rather, the entire Thunder team—had watched the whole Nuggets-Warriors Game 7 with complete focus.

Chen even showed up at the arena the very next day to review the game footage with a few teammates and members of the coaching staff.

Everyone had a great deal of respect for the opponent they'd be facing in the Western Conference Finals.

After all, the level the Nuggets had shown in that Game 7 was downright ridiculous.

To put it bluntly, if Denver played like that every night, the League might as well send the championship trophy straight to them. None of the guys would want to be their practice squad...

Jokic had a 30-point, 15-rebound, 15-assist triple-double; Murray had 40-plus points; Little Porter scored 25-plus; Gordon grabbed 6 offensive rebounds; Pope went 3-for-5 on open threes. And once the pace and momentum picked up in the second half, even Harrell was able to overpower Green for a forceful finish at the rim.