The Denver Nuggets scored a playoff-franchise-low 8 points in the first quarter and could not overcome it, running out of gas to finish the game and lost 92-87 to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Denver fought back to take the lead after three quarters, but that took too much from the squad and the Thunder handled their business down the stretch in a way they didn’t in Game 3. Nikola Jokic scored 27 points and had 13 rebounds, but shot just 7-of-22 from the field and missed key shots and field goals down the stretch while having just 3 assists. Russell Westbrook shot 2-of-12 and MPJ shot 1-of-7 (despite competing ferociously for 9 boards) and that contributed to Denver’s loss, but in a game this tight there’s a lot of blame to go around. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led OKC with 25 points on 19 shots, Isaiah Hartenstein and Chet Holmgren combined for 27 rebounds to win that battle with Denver also, and now the Nuggets have to go solve the Thunder in Oklahoma City at least once more in this series to move on now that it is tied at 2-2.
Game Flow
The early afternoon energy was lagging as the Nuggets won the tip, but Jamal Murray missed a three and then two wide open airballs, one for each team. Aaron Gordon had the ball stolen, and it turned into a Chet Holmgren dunk. Gordon missed a three but got the richochet and Jamal missed a turnaround to keep Denver scoreless. MPJ had a three blocked, but next time down forced Isaiah Hartenstein to foul him going for a dunk and made a free throw to let the fans sit. SGA scored in the mid-range, Hartenstein blocked Jokic but Christian Braun finished a Jokic pass with a dunk. SGA hit another 20-footer with some ball-screen action against Jokic while some dangerous passes hurt Denver’s scoring opportunities but not as badly on the scoreboard as they trailed 7-5 after a pair of Murray free throws. MPJ missed a pair of threes on the same possession but Denver’s defense help OKC in check in the same way as both teams combined to start 0-for-14 from deep. Murray tied the game at 7 with a tough layup, but OKC hit the first three and then Caruso had a transition finish. Russell Westbrook came in and missed a couple of layup attempts and a turnaround. Russ shot an airballed three, Jokic missed in the paint, Peyton Watson airballed another three for Denver, and Braun fumbled a rebound that turned into a finish for the Thunder. Westbrook and Watson each missed another 3 as Denver shot just 2-of-22 from the floor and 0-for-14 from deep in the opening frame and trailed 17-8 after one quarter.
SGA opened the second quarter scoring with a layup but Denver came out with the same poor energy, with a missed layup for Jamal and a turnover from Russ. Hartenstein hit an oop finish that CB answered with free throws after he missed yet another 3 the prior possession, then made another set after being fouled going for a dunk. Aaron Gordon hit Denver’s third field goal with almost 15 minutes gone in the game to cut the Thunder lead to 25-14. Murray made a free throw and forced OKC into the bonus, but SGA hit a jumper as the Nuggets tried to keep pace from the line. Jokic missed a three, Holmgren was called for traveling and Jamal Murray turned it over as the tragedy of errors and missed shots continued to pile up, but the Thunder slowly began to overcome. Jokic fought back with a floater for his first bucket to make it 29-19. Jokic hit a pair of free throws, then Braun blocked Isaiah Joe’s shot on the other end and Jokic got back to the line again as Denver frantically searched for the gas pedal. Jokic missed a jumper but Westbrook hit a cross-court 3 for Denver’s first deep make in 17 early tries. Jalen Williams made a layup and CB answered with a tough finish that closed the gap to 33-28. Jokic missed an elbow shot while Caruso buried a three for OKC, but Aaron Gordon answered with one of his own. Westbrook missed a corner three and Caruso made his, then SGA finished a drive and free throw. Jokic couldn’t get the same foul call on the other end but made his free throws then a spectacular buzzer-beating one-footed three to leave OKC up 6 at the half, 42-36.
Jokic missed his first shot attempt of the third quarter, but AG had a great bounce assist to MPJ for a dunk. Chet finished an oop for OKC, and Jokic hit a long two. Murray made a pair of free throws, Chet had yet another dunk, and Jalen Williams make a pair of Thunder free throws. Braun and Murray each made a three for Denver on their march back, but Lu Dort hit a three to slow the one. Jokic made a great finish over Holmgren, then grabbed a steal that turned into an Aaron Gordon three as Denver too the lead 53-52. Murray missed in a congested paint but broke up a lob on the other end while Jokic got to the foul line. Aaron Gordon forced a turnover, MPJ missed a 3 but Jamal made his to put Denver up 6. Aaron Wiggins answered back with a 3, Westbrook and Caruso both missed from deep for their teams, and Jokic missed one then made the next three. Wallace hit one from the corner for OKC, and Jokic made a pair of free throws. Wiggins made another three as Denver couldn’t get any distance from the Thunder. Watson got to the line himself but missed both, then fumbled an oop from Jokic. Braun made a Denver 3 after a great all-around quarter from him, Westbrook made another then forced a jump ball that Denver won. Holmgren blocked Murray’s final shot of the quarter but Denver finished it up 69-63.
Aaron Gordon missed a three but Watson made a paint hook shot to start the scoring in the 4th. Hartenstein answered with a traditional 3-point play, but Gordon hit a nice 15-foot turnaround jumper in response. Wallace made an OKC three, Jamal misses hit, and then the Gordon missed a pair of putback attempts. A Wiggins three closed the gap to 73-72 and forced a Denver timeout. Jokic came back in, SGA just a little later, as each team had misses. Wallace hit a three for OKC, Russ and CB both missed their attempts, and SGA got to the line to tie the game at 73. Both team missed paint attempts, Caruso got a steal on Murray in transition, but Murray came back to stop the 11-0 OKC run with a 17 foot jumper. Gordon had a tough block and rebound against Chet, and Jokic and SGA traded makes as the margin stayed 3 at 81-78 OKC. SGA hit another tough mid-ranger, Murray finished hard in the paint, but several missed free throws from Jokic and Gordon let the lead climb to 7 for the Thunder. Jokic hit a layup off a Gordon feed, SGA missed a couple of threes and then had a turnover, but Denver could not take advantage and fumbled away their crunch-time chance to take a two-game lead in the series. Jamal airballed a three out of a timeout and despite Gordon’s last-second 3 the Nuggets lose to the Thunder 92-87 and go back to OKC tied at 2-2.
Final Thoughts
– Don’t have 8-point quarters if you want to win. It doesn’t matter how good your defense is, you simply can’t win that way. OKC has an outstanding defense and you can’t simply trade blows with them. Denver shot 31.6% from the field, 25.0% from deep thanks to the final make, had 13 turnovers against just 17 assists and still almost pulled this off – but almost doesn’t matter. Jokic’s battered elbow and MPJ’s busted shoulder and all the rest has to be overcome, and Denver couldn’t do it today. The afternoon start made for some terrible basketball, but Denver needs to win the ugly ones. They’re not gonna win the pretty ones with OKC’s standard shooting and deeper roster. A faster start and execution down the stretch are the only ways to win.
– Denver can win these foul-fests, but they have to have enough energy at the end of the game to close. Aaron Gordon tried again but he can’t bail them out every time. Each team shot 3-for-22 from deep in the first half. Denver got 20 first-half free throws as they got in the bonus early in the second quarter but only 8 made field goals to the Thunder’s 16. Denver made 7 threes in the third quarter, but that was a blip in a game where their inability to get to their positions and finish from those positions made the difference. The Thunder forced some tough shots and Denver could not make the tough shots they would normally make. Jokic heaving bricks from the elbow, Jamal butchering stepbacks. Hell, Christian Braun played a great two-way game but still missed 7 threes. Denver has to find something they can go to late and have the ability to finish even while exhausted. The Nuggets relaxed with SGA off the court by leaning on a zone based around Shai and should not have. They got beat by a bench that put in 35 points while their own had just 8. But despite everything Denver was right there at the finish, as they have been in 3 of the 4 games. The series is still tied – it’s available to Denver if they have the juice, despite the Thunder being a monster team. The Nuggets just have to find that juice – and maybe a smidgen of health that lets them start games a little faster.
