James Harden responds with 18 points as Thunder decks Nuggets in Game 2

The Thunder escaped with a four-point win in the opening game of this series Sunday night, and everyone from Thunder coach Scott Brooks to the ball boys knew Oklahoma City could not possibly continue to receive such a dominant offensive attack from just two players. With that realization, it seemed an entire fan base turned its collective focus to one man.

James Harden.

The second-year shooting guard needed to contribute a scoring spark, and he did just that Wednesday night, pouring in 14 of his 18 points off the bench in the first half as the Thunder cruised to a wire-to-wire 106-89 Game 2 win over Denver.

And those bubbly vibes you're feeling from this victory don't just stem from the Thunder securing a 17-point blowout to take a 2-0 lead in the series as it now shifts to Denver for Games 3 and 4. Deep down, everyone, including Denver, now knows the Thunder is too much for the Nuggets to handle when its entire roster comes to play.

Unlike Game 1, when the Thunder had only three players in double-digit scoring, led by a combined 72-point effort from Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City had a much more balanced attack in Game 2. Harden was one of five players in double figures, led by Durant's game-high 23 points. Westbrook scored 21, Serge Ibaka had 12 points and Nick Collison chipped in 10 points off the bench.

“It's probably our best game of the year in terms of moving the ball to different guys and guys making plays,” said Collison.

No contributor was more important than Harden.

While Durant and Westbrook combined to shoot 25 of 45 from the field Sunday, Harden went 1-for-5. He missed all four of his 3-point tries and got to the free throw line just four times. Harden had only five points in 26 minutes.

But while everyone inside Oklahoma City Arena seemingly wanted Harden benched for his poor performance, Brooks stuck with him because he saw a shooter who was having hard luck. All four of Harden's 3s, Brooks said, rolled around without dropping down.

“If two had gone in, he'd have 11 points and we'd have said he had a pretty good game,” Brooks said.