Russell Westbrook Got His Revenge And The Nuggets Keep Their Season Alive After Destroying The Clippers To Win Game 7

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The final score says the Nuggets won this Game 76 by 19 points, but do not get it twisted, things were much, much worse. Down by as much as 35, the Nuggets exorcised their Game 7 demons by absolutely blowing doors. This time, there was no 20 point blown 4th quarter lead in a Game 7 to end their season. Instead, there was an avalanche to open the 3rd quarter. Things were still relatively close at the break with the Nuggets up 11, but before you knew it they ripped off a 15-0 run and the game was effectively over.

In the end, it got as high as 24-4 run, and that's the thing about Game 7s. When things go bad, they can go real bad real quick, things just snowball in a way where there's nothing you can do.

What was different this time around in the Nuggets Game 7 performance was the fact that in 2025, they got production from every player that touched the floor. So much is rightfully made about the talent that surrounds Jokic and how bad it is, but Saturday night, it's the reason their season continues on.

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Russell Westbrook especially made his presence felt, and in a win or go home situation, I imagine it has to be terrifying to have Westbrook on your team. He's so confident that his I don't give a fuck attitude can either help you or bury you. For the Nuggets, it did nothing but help. Russ was great

The Nuggets "others" were challenged to make their open jumpers, and they responded. Christian Braun made huge threes as well and played about as solid defense as you can possibly play on James Harden. Same thing with MPJ. The guy has one working arm, but when it came time in the 3rd quarter to make those huge momentum 3PM to break the game open, he delivered. Those are the moments that swing Game 7s. It's why you tend to want to avoid them at all costs, because on any given night, anything can happen.

For example, Kawhi Leonard's -33 was his worst +/- ever. In any game he's played in. The Clippers also had to rely on Big Game James Harden, and how do we think that went? Just 7 points on 2-8 shooting and a -29. 

As good as they were in Game 6, they were that bad with their season once again on the line in Game 7. The offense was stalled and everyone just stood around and watched James Harden and Kawhi dribble. Getting into their sets with only 11-12 seconds on the shot clock made things harder, and once you start missing in Game 7 and the nerves set in, good luck. Enjoy the offseason, see ya in the Fall for training camp.

Once the Nuggets blew the game open in the 3rd quarter, the rest of the game turned to autopilot. Good for them for finding a way to do it with a collective effort and take care of business on their own floor. I'm sure there are fans who wished this was possible last year, but I say focus on the now.

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What that now means is we have an all time matchup in Round 2. The MVP Showdown. SGA vs Jokic. These two teams split their season series 2-2 with both sides having monster performances, so there's no reason to think this series won't live up to the hype. As good as LAC/DEN was as a series, I'd say OKC/DEN has a great chance to be even better. It'll be interesting to see how Game 1 goes, given the Nuggets will be on short rest and OKC has been sitting for forever following their sweep, but that's why you take care of your business and don't let things extend to 6 or 7 games.

While on some level it was a bit of a bummer that we didn't have a close Game 7 that came down to the wire, I sure as shit know Nuggets fans prefer this outcome. That's a level of stress that changes you forever if things don't go your way. As someone who has experienced both ends of the spectrum, I can confirm winning Game 7 by blowout rules. Congrats to Nuggets fans, and good luck against OKC!