Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 25 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder finally beat Denver in a crunch time, surpassing Nuggets 92-87 on Sunday to knot his second round series in two games each.
The Thunder continued 69-63 after three quarters and fell at eight when Peyton Watson began the fourth quarter by increasing a hook shot. Butklahoma City used a 11-0 race fueled by Cason Wallace reserves, which had a couple of triples, and Aaron Wiggins, which added another, to take control.
Wallace’s second triple put Oklahoma City forever at 75-73.
The Nuggets had survived the young team in the NBA with victories in games 1 and 3, accrediting their experience of playoffs and their pedigree of the championship. And they seemed prepared to put the team with the best tetation in the west on the elimination cusp when the Aaron Gordon change jersey did 73-66.
This time, however, it was the Thunder who put himself big in the section and the Nuggets who were looking for the opportunity to put OKC in a 3-1 hole.
Game 5 is Tuesday night in Oklahoma City, where the Thunder had an explosion of 43 points of the Nuggets in game 2.
Nikola Jokic led Denver with 27 points and 13 rebounds. Christian Braun and Jamal Murray had 17 points each and Gordon scored 15. Michael Porter Jr. scored only three points after scoring 15 on Friday night.
Wiggins and Wallace added 11 points each and Alex Caruso and Jalen Williams scored 10. Williams was 2 for 13 from the floor after scoring 32 in game 3.
The teams played an extra physical game on Friday night, not leaving Ball Arena until the early hours of Saturday. And the early beginning of Mother’s Day – 1:30 pm local time – led to some tired legs and a lot of wandering shots.
Both teams were 3 by 22 from depth in the first half and took a step through a first combined trimester of 25 points, which tied an NBA playoff record for the least amount of points in the first quarter.
Oklahoma City was in front of 42-36 in half.
Associated Press reports.
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