OKC Thunder Have Opportuninty to Show True Resilience in Game 2

There haven't been many overtly negative moments standing against the Oklahoma City Thunder this season. However, after a shocking Game 1 defeat at home to the Denver Nuggets, a pit lies in the stomach of the one-seeded Thunder.

Denver forward Aaron Gordon stunned all of the Paycom Center after drilling a transition three with seconds waning off the clock to give the Nuggets a victory. Now, for the first time during this year's playoffs and basically the entire season, the Thunder have to show some signs of resilience.

This shouldn't be too hard of a concept for the top-seeded Thunder to pick up on, given the disappointing nature of their first loss. OKC is hungry to prove to the NBA that they belong among the league's best teams and that they deserve the respect of other squads. Losing their first game isn't the best way to show that fire off, but bouncing back and winning the second would be the next-best thing.

What might be the most disappointing about the loss is the overall performance from star guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's surrounding cast. OKC got 20 points from Alex Caruso and 14 from Lu Dort, helping the Thunder drag out their lead in the second half while they had it. The flip side of that is the performances of Gilgeous-Alexander's two appointed sidekicks, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren.

Williams finished the night with 16 points on 5-for-20 shooting and Holmgren 12 points on 5-for-11 shooting. Both players made their presence felt on defense, which makes up for part of the lack of scoring, but they do have important roles on offense that they didn't exactly fill. Offensive efficiency from that duo will arguably be the key tenet in Game 2 that could push them across the finish line with a win.

If there is a good time for a good revenge game where Oklahoma City comes out swinging, Game 2 on Wednesday evening would be the most perfect opportunity. Losing on its home court to start the series certainly was not how they anticipated kicking off the Western Conference semifinals, so losing two straight there would be even worse.

For the sake of momentum, the Thunder can't lose on Wednesday night. If they head to Denver for Game 3 trailing 2-0 in the series, life will be much more challenging. Oklahoma City won't want Nuggets star Nikola Jokic to have the opportunity to win the series in sweeping fashion on their home court, so this second battle between the two star-studded teams may be the most important game of the series.

The two squads will top off at 8:30 p.m. CT at the Paycom Center on Wednesday, April 7.