The Denver Nuggets and Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday combined for one of the ugliest halves of basketball you will ever see, and the internet reacted accordingly.
Neither the Nuggets nor Thunder could buy a basket for the better part of the first 24 minutes of Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinals series between the two teams at Ball Arena in Denver, Colo. The two teams combined for just 25 points in the first quarter, which was tied for the lowest total scoring output in any playoff first quarter in the shot-clock era.
The Nuggets had just 8 points in the first quarter. They shot 2/22 overall and 0/14 on three-point attempts. Oklahoma City led 42-36 at the half, and the teams has combined to go 6/44 from three-point range at that point.
Fans were absolutely ruthless with the memes:
Thunder vs Nuggets right now pic.twitter.com/MqrXnTfe0C
— Hater Report (@HaterReport_) May 11, 2025
Nuggets and thunder right now pic.twitter.com/30vom8We01
— zaiire 💫 (@_zaiire_) May 11, 2025
The Thunder and Nuggets are a combined 1/31 from three. 😰pic.twitter.com/GCU9MMiD52
— theScore (@theScore) May 11, 2025
Watching that Thunder-Nuggets first quarter: pic.twitter.com/0RTiQL17Ww
— Harry Lock Picks (@HarryLockPicks) May 11, 2025
The Nuggets & Thunder are a combined 6-FOR-44 from 3-point range in Game 4 🫨
— DraftKings (@DraftKings) May 11, 2025
OKC is up 42-36 over Denver at halftime‼️pic.twitter.com/kVH84pEH9h
Those who were watching the game felt like both teams genuinely wanted to lose. The shooting was so bad that it almost seemed intentional.
We have seen plenty of poor shooting in the NBA playoffs thus far. Anthony Edwards was hit with some similar harsh memes earlier in the week because he could not put the ball in the hoop, either.
With the way the Thunder and Nuggets started Sunday’s game, both teams had to have gone into halftime feeling fortunate that they still had a chance to win.
