OKLAHOMA CITY — Deep in twister alley, Lu Dort introduced the Thunder to Denver’s season.
The Nuggets haven’t fairly been struck by lightning but, however they’re on the point of elimination after a 112-105 Sport 5 loss Tuesday in Oklahoma Metropolis, the place Dort’s 3-point barrage ignited a comeback by the top-seeded hosts. Denver led by as many as 12 within the second half.
Sport 6 is Thursday (6:30 p.m. MT) at Ball Area. The Nuggets should win twice in a row to conquer a juggernaut of an opponent that received 68 video games this season.
Jalen Williams buried a go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:19 to go, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander doubled the Thunder’s lead with a dagger on the following possession.
Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray mixed for 26 of the Nuggets’ 31 factors within the third quarter, briefly taking up a recreation that shouldn’t have been theirs to win. Then, interim coach David Adelman stored them on the courtroom with a single-digit result in begin the fourth quarter, and Denver went seven minutes with no subject objective as Paycom Middle reached suffocating ranges of quantity to match the protection.
Gilgeous-Alexander buried a midrange jumper whereas getting fouled by Murray with 2:02 left, the 3-point play giving Oklahoma Metropolis a 103-100 lead. Jokic answered with the Sombor Shuffle of all Sombor Shuffles, a fading triple over Chet Holmgren to tie with 1:39 left.
Not even his magic was sufficient to beat the highest seed within the West. Jokic completed with 44 environment friendly factors and 15 rebounds in his greatest recreation of the sequence. Murray was clunky along with his choices and shot at occasions, however he discovered his solution to 26 factors.
The remainder of the Nuggets mixed to make simply 13 of 45 photographs.
Oklahoma Metropolis was regular throughout the board, led by Gilgeous-Alexander’s 29 factors, six rebounds and 7 assists however supplemented by extra function participant dependability. The Nuggets have been held to 19 factors within the remaining body.
Jokic’s final three video games have been as troubling as any stoop in his profession. He averaged 21.3 factors, 5.3 turnovers and 5.0 assists. He shot 33% from the ground, 18% from the perimeter and even missed a pair of essential free throws late in Denver’s Sport 4 loss. Discombobulated by Oklahoma Metropolis’s compact protection, encumbered by his proper elbow, preoccupied along with his perceived lack of a whistle, he was a celebrity letting his crew down.
However the Nuggets entered this swing recreation in Oklahoma Metropolis with a 6-0 document underneath these circumstances within the Jokic period — tied 2-2 in a Sport 5. They won’t all the time win the sequence. However they’re masters of going up 3-2. Extra particularly, Jokic is. His Sport 5 towards Minnesota within the second spherical final 12 months would possibly go down in historical past as his forgotten magnum opus due to what occurred subsequent.
He confirmed as much as this one in traditional Sport 5 mode — snug working at his personal tempo towards OKC’s pests, assured in his contact regardless of the latest wonkiness. His first half was affected by more and more ridiculous highlights: a lefty hook over Isaiah Hartenstein, a potpourri of 3s with arms in his face, a sarcastic stare-down after his defender tried taking a cost, adopted by a go to himself off the backboard to simplify the end.
The Thunder wouldn’t fade. The alternatives to take action have been loads. Oklahoma Metropolis completed the primary half on a 9-0 run instantly after encountering a double-digit deficit for the primary time within the sequence. Proper as Jokic and Murray have been seemingly going for the jugular within the third, OKC answered with a miniature 10-4 push to chop Denver’s lead in half.
And a slumping Dort, whose uncalibrated shot prevented him from closing Sport 4, immediately knocked down a trio of 3s to avoid wasting the Thunder’s season within the fourth quarter. The final of them closed it to 92-90 and compelled a timeout from Adelman, who has been snug residing with the whims of Oklahoma Metropolis’s function gamers all through this sequence.
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