What Williams said, exactly, couldn't be heard over the deafening home crowd. Maybe that was for the best, but the ball shouldn't take it personally. The real message was meant for Williams' critics,

The Oklahoma City Thunder are heading to the Western Conference finals for the first time since 2016 after a dominant 125-93 Game 7 win over the Denver Nuggets on Sunday afternoon. The Thunder defense was absolutely suffocating,

Aaron Gordon willed himself to play through pain, embodying a gritty playoff run by the Nuggets. But resilience and toughness weren’t enough against the Thunder.