Nikola Jokic returned to his dominant form, the Denver Nuggets got a big quarter from Jamal Murray, they had a double-digit lead late in the third quarter…and they ended up losing game five against the Oklahoma City Thunder after collapsing in the fourth quarter. Jokic was the only one who scored for a huge stretch in the final frame and that ended up dooming the Nuggets. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander took a minute to get going but ends the night with thirty-one points while every Thunder starter scored double digits. A massive opportunity missed for Denver and now they are on the brink of elimination after losing 112-105.

Offense was once again sluggish to start the game, Denver scored just two points in the first four minutes. OKC wasn’t exactly burning down the nets but they scored enough points to get up double digits and force an early Nuggets timeout. They rallied after that, picking up their defensive effort and looking to attack the paint with Aaron Gordon and Jokic. After a Michael Porter Jr. fastbreak dunk trimmed the Thunder’s lead to one it was their turn to take a timeout and regroup. The TO did not pay immediate dividends. The Nuggets stretched out the run to 10-0 before Jalen Williams finally got a floater to go down. Eventually the Thunder were able to get the game tied again with the quarter heading down the stretch. It stayed tight in the final minutes. Denver was hitting corner threes and Williams continued to provide offense on the other end. Christian Braun went cold from the corner after hitting a few early and missed a couple chances to extend the Nuggets lead, giving them just a 28-27 advantage after twelve minutes.

It was pretty close to start the second but the Nuggets were finding some success with Jokic on the bench. It wasn’t as good as it could have been though. Peyton Watson had some great hustle plays but also played a bit recklessly as the Nuggets offense started to sputter. It ended up being a four minute rest for Nikola, he checked back in with Denver up two. He helped them push the lead up to five but the game remained tight. The Nuggets found ways to get points even though the degree of difficulty on them was sometimes very high. They got on a run and scored nine straight points to briefly put them up double digits. OKC stopped the bleeding while the Nuggets jumpers went stale and Gilgeous-Alexander finally started getting some shots to fall. They closed the half on an 9-0 run to cut Denver’s lead to 56-54.

Jamal Murray opened the second half looking to score and hit some nice shots but SGA had the answer. Jokic joined Murray in hitting big shots, including some threes that found nothing but the bottom of the net. Murray was going full playoff Murray to lead an 11-3 run and push the Nuggets lead to nine halfway through the third. They pushed it up to as much as twelve before the Thunder mounted their next response getting a couple buckets from Jaylin Williams. The shots weren’t falling for Denver going down the stretch but they were winning the fifty-fifty balls and making the hustle plays to keep the lead close to double-digits. The Thunder had a solid close to the third and kept the game in reach. Russell Westbrook made his first shot of the game as a flip at the basket right before the shot clock expired and that put Denver up 86-78 going into the fourth.

Jokic opened the fourth still on the floor and still carrying Denver’s offense. Whenever their offense stalled out a bit, like it did to open the quarter, Nikola was there to get a key bucket. Likewise, every time the Nuggets looked like they were going to pull away someone from the Thunder knocked down a big shot and pulled them back within striking distance. Denver’s offense went cold right before the midway point and Lu Dort started hitting threes. That led an 8-0 run and the game was tied at 92. The Nuggets continued to be completely unable to hit a shot but Jokic baited Isaiah Hartenstein into some silly fouls to get some free throws. It went back and forth with Nikola being Denver’s only source of offense. He tied it up with a minute and half to play after hitting a patented ridiculous Nikola three. Unfortunately, Denver gave up back-to-back threes after that while working for ice cold MPJ three-point attempts on the other end and that sealed their fate. The Nuggets blow it and head back to Denver facing elimination after losing game five 112-105.