SI

NBA Fans Think Basketball Karma Came Back to Bite the Thunder in Game 1 Loss

The basketball gods do not like it when you play the foul game.

Tyler Lauletta

Oklahoma City Thunder forward Chet Holmgren and Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic react to a play.
Oklahoma City Thunder forward Chet Holmgren and Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic react to a play. / Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images
In this story:

The Denver Nuggets shocked the basketball world on Monday night, scraping their way to an unlikely fourth-quarter comeback against the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals.

The comeback was able to be completed thanks in large part to the Thunder’s decision to play the foul game when up by three in the closing seconds of regulation. Rather than giving the Nuggets the chance to tie the game with a single three-point shot, the Thunder fouled as soon as the Nuggets took possession in the final 20 seconds of action or so.

That plan backfired spectacularly when Thunder big man Chet Holmgren missed two shots from the charity stripe, giving the Nuggets possession while trailing by just one point and 10 seconds to play.

Denver quickly worked the ball down the court to Aaron Gordon, who drilled a wide-open three with just two seconds left on the clock, giving the Nuggets their first lead since the first quarter.

Watching the sequence play out, many basketball fans believed that the Thunder had gotten their just desserts for their decision to play the foul game.

Had they done the honorable thing and played regular defense, the internet posited, the basketball gods might have spared them this cruel fate. But because they attempted to manipulate the outcome with a foul strategy outside the realm of true basketball, a price needed to be paid.

While fans can debate the merits of the basketball gods impacting the final outcome, one thing is for sure—the Nuggets now hold a 1-0 lead in their series against the Thunder.

Game 2 is set for Wednesday night in Oklahoma City.

More NBA Playoffs on Sports Illustrated

feed

Published
Tyler Lauletta
TYLER LAULETTA

Tyler Lauletta is a staff writer for the Breaking and Trending News Team/team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI, he covered sports for nearly a decade at Business Insider, and helped design and launch the OffBall newsletter. He is a graduate of Temple University in Philadelphia, and remains an Eagles and Phillies sicko. When not watching or blogging about sports, Tyler can be found scratching his dog behind the ears.

Home/NBA