The roller coaster ride is over for the Denver Nuggets.

Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder eliminated Denver Wednesday night with a 100-97 victory. The loss concludes a Nuggets season that started with a sense of impending doom over a potential trade of superstar Carmelo Anthony. Denver was then re-energized by the new crew of Nuggets shipped over from the New York Knicks in exchange for Anthony. An 18-7 run to end the season followed, creating hope for a magical postseason.

But it wasn’t to be.

After avoiding a sweep with a Game 4 victory, the Nuggets came into Oklahoma City with little pressure. The first quarter was a track meet with Denver leading most of the way. The Thunder closed the deficit with a long three by Eric Maynor to make it 28-25 Denver after one quarter.

And that set the tone for the rest of the game. Neither team was ever able to take control and gain a commanding lead. The two teams were tied at 50 at halftime.

The Nuggets entered the fourth quarter with a slim lead and hope that they could bring the series back to Denver and heap the pressure on Oklahoma City. Early in the fourth Durant was unable to get going as the Nuggets lead grew to nine, 91-82. Then came a momentum swinging sequence.

With a chance to see its lead grow to double-digits with just over three minutes to play, Denver got a layup attempt for Kenyon Martin off of an Aaron Afflalo pass. Martin went up for the lay-in, only to see his attempt sent into the crowd by Serge Ibaka.

After the inbound, Nene got a chance inside. He too was rejected by Ibaka, who recorded a remarkable nine blocks on the night. Following the second rejection by Ibaka, Durant came down the floor and hit a crowd-lifting three to give the Thunder a five point swing and bring the score to 91-85.

From that point on Durant showed the killer instinct of a winner.

The Thunder tied the game off of a three by James Harden with just under two minutes remaining. The two teams then exchanged points and the Nuggets took a 95-93 lead after two free throws. Durant then hit a high difficulty shot with Wilson Chandler draped all over him. And he got fouled. His free throw gave Oklahoma City a one point lead.

After Raymond Felton and Durant traded a pair of free throws, the Thunder got the ball up one with 15 seconds remaining.

Durant received the inbounds pass and took a couple of steps where it appeared his foot stepped on the mid-court line. He was whistled for a back-court violation, but after a consultation of referee’s, the call was reversed. Oklahoma City’s superstar used the second chance to throw the dagger into Denver’s hopes when he hit a 15-foot jumper to give the Thunder a three point lead. The basket gave Durant 41 points on the night, his second 40-plus point game of the series.

“I just tried to seize the moment and take advantage of it,” Durant said. “They kept feeding me the rock, I was able to get to some good spots and fortunately I made some shots.”

The Nuggets last gasp to save the season came from Afflalo. His highly contested three clanged off the rim as the buzzer sounded and the Thunder finished off the series 4-1.

Denver fans will undoubtedly cry foul about the free throw disparity in this one. The Thunder attempted 42, making 34. The Nuggets shot half of that, 21, making 17.

But the sublime play of Durant certainly deserves praise. The forward scored the last nine points of the game for the Thunder, showing poise and a killer instinct to make sure that his team didn’t have to travel back to Denver.

“We didn’t close out this game, we didn’t close out Game 1 and … they’re both very difficult to swallow right now,” Denver coach George Karl said. “We will somewhere in the next week or wake up and realize that we had a hell of a season.”

The Nuggets now enter an offseason full of question marks. Which of the Nuggets will return? Will Martin or J.R. Smith re-sign? Will Nene and Afflalo sign new deals? Will the two-headed point guard monster of Felton and Ty Lawson stay together?

All of these questions will lead to an intriguing next few months as the Nuggets try to determine how to catch up to the division rival Thunder.