Rumbles of young Thunder

The end of Game 4 changed something

In four games against the Thunder, Nuggets star Nikola Jokić has a true-shooting percentage of 49 percent, which means a hell of a lot more misses than the regular season, when he made 66 percent. AARON ONTIVEROZ/THE DENVER POST

DAVID

My biggest question for OKC all season has been: how are the young and mostly inexperienced players going to do in the most pivotal moments of the playoffs?

Those guys really grew up at the end of Game 4. If they win the championship, that’s where it started. They easily could have lost.

HENRY

It was dicey. First of all, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander looks smaller to me. In addition to struggling with all the zone the Nuggets are suddenly playing, he was so ripped a few months ago. He looks a little depleted. I bet he's five pounds lighter than he was.

DAVID

That's common. I'm not there every day, but most of my players know, they're getting their lift in after games. They find a way to do it. If Shai's not doing that for whatever reason, that's a problem, because power matters in these games.

HENRY

Just to reset; I said in early March that I thought the Thunder would win the championship, because they're just so much better. You said a long time ago that you thought that the Nuggets would give the Thunder trouble. Today we both look right! Can you remind me: why did you think Denver gets the Thunder in trouble?