Ripping the ball away from Nikola Topic before he even crossed halfcourt, Julian Strawther's steal-and-slam was OKC's signal to exit the upside-down world. Finagling the standings with a weekend to go, the reigning NBA champions punted this game to its bigger-picture benefits.
The Oklahoma City Thunder completed their necessary mission with a 127-107 loss to the Denver Nuggets. For the first time in years, most fans likely rooted for this result. Part of the wacky nature of April regular-season hoops.
With the first seed clinched, the Thunder have zero incentive to run out their starters in these last two games. And if anything, they have an incentive to drop this one. The Nuggets are jockeying for the third seed. If they can stay there, that means OKC won't see either of them or the San Antonio Spurs until the Western Conference Finals.
That's why it made strategic sense for the Thunder to sit out their entire rotation — even if it goes against the spirit of the game. And weirdly enough, the Nuggets did the same. For what reason? Who knows. But the motivation became trivial due to the result.
It took a while for either team to find a rhythm. You can tell that these short-handed versions of the Thunder and Nuggets have seldom played together. Needing a couple of more 20-plus-minute games to gain All-Defensive eligibility, Lu Dort paid the price for his participation with heavy boo's by the Denver crowd that has grown to despise him.
Against a small lineup, Jonas Valanciunas ate down-low. He went into a scoring frenzy early on. Nikola Topic equalled his production. He drove downhill and showed off his range from the outside. The Thunder were in a 34-27 deficit after the first quarter.
Things stayed close throughout the second quarter. The Thunder had 24 points in the frame. Jared McCain started to hit on his outside jumpers. For the Nuggets, Strawther suddenly got hot. Bruce Brown also flirted with a triple-double. After elbowing David Roddy's nose, Dort's foul was reviewed for a flagrant foul — much to the crowd's delight.
And much to the crowd's dismay, Dort's foul remained regular. The Thunder entered halftime in a 59-51 deficit. Within single-digit points, the game was still up in the air. Coming out of the break, both teams became 3-point happy. They exchanged outside looks as the buckets came in a flurry.
Once Dort crossed 20 minutes, he checked out for good. Gaining confidence with each possession, Brooks Barnhizer made a couple of free-throw attempts to cut Denver's lead to 80-79 with three minutes left in the third frame. Uh oh. A little too close to comfort for those rooting for a loss.
The Thunder put up 34 points in the third quarter. Just your latest reminder that the Nuggets have been a bottom-10 defense for most of the regular season. They were in a 90-85 hole. Felt like we were on the verge of a tight finish. Those are usually stressful, but tonight's case would've been for inverse reasons.
Alas, the Nuggets popped the balloon on that idea. They started the fourth quarter by scoring the first 14 points. All mostly by Roddy — who was rocking a broken nose from Dort's elbow. The career journeyman made a sidestep 3-pointer to cap off an unreal scoring run by him.
Down 111-90 with six minutes left, the Thunder were on their way to a helpful loss. They only scored 22 points in the final frame. In a throwback to the tanking days, Kenrich Williams helped the cause. All you could've asked for in this one. It was at least interesting — despite the weird circumstances — and watchable through three-fourths of it.
The Thunder shot 43% from the field and went 14-of-44 (31.8%) from 3. They shot 9-of-12 on free throws. They had 25 assists on 42 baskets. Six Thunder players scored double-digit points.
Topic finished with 14 points and 11 assists. Branden Carlson tallied a 23-point and 12-rebound double-double. McCain had 15 points and two assists. Williams finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Barnhizer had 14 points and nine rebounds. Aaron Wiggins scored 13 points.
Meanwhile, the Nuggets shot 51% from the field and went 21-of-43 (48.8%) from 3. They shot 12-of-13 on free throws. They had 28 assists on 47 baskets. Six Nuggets players scored double-digit points.
Valanciunas dominated with 23 points and 17 rebounds. Strawther finished with 22 points and four rebounds. Roddy had 21 points and two rebounds. Bruce totaled 10 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Tim Hardaway Jr. and Jalen Pickett each scored 13 points apiece.
We'll see if the ends justify the means for the Thunder. Nothing was at stake, but deliberately messing with the NBA standings can cause some bad mojo — for folks that believe in that sorta thing when it comes to basketball. But regardless of how things shake out at the end of Sunday's finale, this was the sound move to make for various reasons.
You were also able to see the end of the Thunder's bench log serious minutes. And you don't want to overreact to a one-game sample, but there were some exciting things to take away from this one. Expect a similar lineup for OKC's regular-season home finale. For now, the main rotation has earned the perks of some extended rest with the NBA's best record locked up.
Getting Curtis Jones to backtrack, Topic jammed on his brakes. Feeling daring, he went with the stepback 3-pointer despite the solid contest. The 20-year-old was already on his way back to defense as his outside jumper rattled in. Phew. He isn't afraid to let it fly.
Topic finished with 14 points on 6-of-12 shooting, 11 assists and two rebounds. He shot 2-of-3 from 3. He also had four steals.