In another excellent game befitting the best conference semifinals series by far, Denver started the fourth quarter 1-for-9 allowing the Thunder to erase an 11-point deficit completely, and after the two contenders (the teams AND the MVP candidates) exchanged titanic punches over the final minutes, Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams landed the two largest blows to will the Thunder to the game five victory.
The Nuggets were led valiantly by Nikola Jokic (44 points, 15 rebounds, and 5 assists) with much-needed contributions from Jamal Murray (28 points and 4 rebounds), lynchpin Aaron Gordon (13 points and 5 rebounds), and Christian Braun (8 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 blocks). But there was little backup for Jokic to fend off the Thunder’s fourth quarter comeback.
Oklahoma City was paced by their commercial bros - Gilgeous-Alexander (31 points, 7 assists, 6 rebounds), Chet Holmgren (14 points and 8 rebounds), and Jalen Williams (18 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 assists). Lugentz Dort hit three crucial threes to foment the Thunder’s fourth quarter push. Alex Caruso (13 points and 4 rebounds) helped the Thunder stay in the game in the second quarter and beyond.
Oklahoma City stormed out of the games to grab an early 10 point lead, but Denver slowly but surely whittled away at their deficit behind improved passing and being more patient in their halfcourt sets. Braun, in particular, his some important threes during the Nuggets’ run. Jalen Williams did a lot of damage at the other end to bolster the Thunder attack. A well-played first quarter concluded with the Nuggets up one.
The second period was a more ragged affair with the teams staying neck-and-neck. Denver’s Murray and Gordon helped push their advantage out, but Oklahoma City drew closer with Alex Caruso making a meaningful impact. The Nuggets pieced together a 9-0 run late in the half to go up ten, but in a tight series, OKC, led by Gilgeous-Alexander, answered with a powerful closing response to make it a two point game at the half.
The quality of play ratched up precipitiously in the third quarter. Gilgeous-Alexander had four driving lay-ups that looked like mirror images of each other. While Jalen Williams cooled off, Murray and Jokic hit shot-after-shot to firm up the Nuggets’ lead. After Caruso re-entered the game, he chased down a loose carom and found a cutting Holmgren for a dunk. During one sequence late in the stanza, Denver came down with four consecutive offensive rebounds to hold possession for nearly a minute AND a Jokic lay-up put the Nuggets up 11. The Thunder made another late run to make it 86-78 heading to the fourth.
### Observations
* Sorry for the gap in Final Scores - I finally published my book, which now ranks just behind the 2014 Game 5 Ginobili run and the 2005 Horry Game 5 heroics as the happiest moments of my life.
* It makes way more sense now why San Antonio surrounded Tim Duncan with an array of serviceable centers in his 30s (Fab Oberto, Francisco Elson, Rasho Nesterovic, etc.)- seeing Jokic worn down through 1.5 rounds.
* OKC closed with Jalen and Jaylin Williams, and well, that was hard to track.
* Other than the two late misses, I don’t think I saw Michael Porter, Jr. do anything of consequence in that fourth quarter.
* That Hartenstein shooting form is gross.
* The [box score will reveal that Denver outscored 28-27 in BOTH](https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401769990) the first and second quarters.
* If Atlanta has the most ‘crunk’ in-game music, OKC has the most EDM in-game music.
* **Sequence of the Game #1**: Russell Westbrook squeezed a deft pocket pass through active hands into the hands of a cutting Murray for a nice lay-up to start the second quarter.
* **Sequence of the Game #2**: Jokic did this midway through the second - knowing that there were two nearby defenders around him on a dribble drive - angled his first attempt in a way that allowed him to beat them both to the carom, and laid the second attempt in softly.
* **Sequence of the Game #3**: At the start of the third, Isaiah Hartenstein threw down a monstrous dunk and and-1 and then turned away Gordon’s dunk attempt at the other end.
**Game Rundown**
From the tip, Denver settled for a unnerving amount of long jumpers (0-6 from three) and their only basket over 2+ minutes came on an offensive rebound and layup from Jokic. Jalen Williams’ corner three and Isaiah Hartenstein’s dunk put OKC up 12-2. Gordon paired a point-blank dunk and a physical lay-up to slice into that lead. Denver settled down after this, and kept the Thunder on the perimeter for a while. Braun’s corner three put Denver into the lead. Braun later connected from the left corner (on an action reminiscent of the Beautiful Game sequence San Antonio did to OKC in 2014 Game 6). Despite the rough start, Denver ended the first up 28-27.
Murray and Gordon executed well for the Denver halfcourt offense to nudge the lead out to six. However, Cason Wallace and Chet Holmgren converted difficult and-1’s to keep it a two-possession game. Peyton Watson kept several Nugget possessions alive with his hustle, and Julian Strawther’s straightaway three put Denver up five. A pair of impressive buckets from Jokic kept the Thunder at bay, while Murray’s freebies put the Nuggets up ten. Gilgeous-Alexander paired a floater and an and-1 to trim the deficit to two going into the break.
The MVP candidates appropriately traded baskets to start the third period. Hartenstein had a demonstrative and-1 dunk sequence that was matched by a corkscrew and-1 by Murray moments later. Jokic and Murray hit threes from the exact same spot from above the break. Denver had no answer for Gilgeous-Alexander’s fruitful drives. Murray’s three from the previous spot followed by a turnaround from the right elbow put Denver up nine. A Holmgren dunk reduced the Denver advantage to seven. Russell Westbrook chucked up a brick and an airball, and Gilgeous-Alexander’s pull-up brought OKC within six. After those comical misses, Westbrook’s floater put Denver up eight after the third.