Denver – An advance in the 3-1 series was within Denver on Sunday.
But a poor first quarter of all time of the Nuggets and a very close to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the bench of Oklahoma City proved to be too much for Denver A victory of 92-87 Thunder.
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The Nuggets only achieved eight points in the first quarter in an opening stanza which saw the two teams to get out of the doors. Denver finally found its offensive pace and entered the fourth quarter with a six -point lead.
But a Thunder 11-0 race sucked the air of an arena of ball previously frantic. The Nuggets are again cold on the ground and missed several free throws on the section while the Thunder was held to equalize the series at 2-2.
Gilgeous-Alexander led Oklahoma City with 25 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 interceptions. Nikola Jokić posted 27 points, 13 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 interceptions in the losing effort. Jokić pulled 7 out of 22 on the field, while the stuffy defense of Oklahoma City continued to act.
SGA closes hard after fighting in match 3
The Thunder lost match 3 Friday as Gilgeous-Alexander is in the section With an effort 1 of 8 on the ground in the fourth quarter and in combined extension. There was no discoloration of OKC MVP candidate on Sunday.
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Alexander led the overvoltage of the fourth trimester of Thunder with seven of the eight Oklahoma City points during a critical section of the fourth quarter which maintained the nuggets at a distance. A rider returning to a hard time extended Oklahoma City's advance at 83-78.
An aggressive route to the hoop again extended the advance at 88-81 with 2:23 remaining, more thwarting the hopes of Denver of a rally.
When the match was finished, Gilgeous-Alexander had scored nine points at the last quarter while the Thunder transformed a deficit of 69-63 into a five-point victory.
“It was good,” said Gilgeous-Alexander. “It is always good to win. It fears to lose. As I said the last match, I'm always ready to take good and the bad. And the last match, I took the evil. Tonight, I took good.”
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Thunder coach Mark Deigneuult praised the resilience of his star Guard after a bad release in match 3.
“I always marvel at his ability to get back to zero,” said Daignault. “Usually he gets back to zero a big match. It is his secret sauce. It remains so level and humble despite its success.
“But when he fails, he does not point his fingers, he does not make a pout. He is not emotional, he is not angry. He is so much level that he gets back into play. He is the last guy you worry about rebounding.”
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and The Thunder equaled the Nuggets at 2-2. (Aaron Oniveroz / The Denver Post)
(Aaron Ontivieroz via Getty Images)
OKC's depth makes a big difference
In a game where the two teams played with tired legs after Victory in extension of the Nuggets in match 3 Friday eveningThe depth of Oklahoma City – and the lack of Denver – turned out to be critical.
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The Thunder obtained 56 minutes combined from five different bench players who totaled 36 points, 17 rebounds and six assists. Aaron Wiggins (11 points), Cason Wallace (11 points) and Alex Caruso (10 points) each scored two -digit and provided Daigneault with a constant rotation of new defenders to face the offensive stars of Denver. Caruso, Wiggins and Wallace were all on the ground to start the fourth quarter that launched the late rally of Oklahoma City.
The Nuggets have attempt with 41 minutes of three bench players – 27 of them from Russell Westbrook. The Denver bench unit collected six points in total while the Westbrook effort 2 of 12 from the field punctuated 3 of the 15 shots combined from Nuggets backups.
He marked a clear difference between the two lists and a place where Oklahoma City has a clear advantage.
“They were huge,” said Daignault about his bench. “They made huge shots. And they gave us huge games of defense and tenacity. …
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“We have played a lot of minutes – our best guys played a lot of minutes the other evening in the match in overtime. A quick turnaround and a start of play today. We have made a very intentional effort to use our depth today and advance everyone.”
The defensive pressure of Cason Wallace on the bench helped to trigger the Rally of Oklahoma City in the fourth quarter. (Photo of Aaron Oniveroz / The Denver Post)
(Aaron Ontivieroz via Getty Images)
The effort of the bench unit aroused the praise of the beginners of Oklahoma City, including the Jalen Williams stars.
“We just have guys who are ready to leave. … We have a lot of guys who can play and do a lot on the ground, and that should not score,” said Williams. “This is what makes our team special. Being able to play several guys in a series and for them to have the same mentality to be ready and playing games is really a key.”
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Nugget coach David Adelman has experienced post-match questions about the lack of production of the Denver bench and maintaining a short rotation when the Denver's fourth trimester collapse.
“We just have to get more people,” said Adelman. “And maybe I have to play more than eight guys. I felt that, once we pushed (head) eight (points), I really stayed with a shorter rotation thinking that we had the chance to push this thing and take control of the game.”
Thunder Limit Jokic again
In a match with a few offensive light points, Jokić's 27 -point effort was by far the best of Nuggets. But for a third consecutive match, he did not come with the three -time efficiency from the Denver MVP.
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Jokić exploded for 42 points out of 15 shots out of 29 in Denver's victory in Victory in match 1. But his effort of 7 out of 22 (31.8%) on Sunday scored a third consecutive match in which he drew less at 40% on the field.
Jokić pulled 6 out of 16 (37.5%) in the defeat of Denver in matches 2 and 8 out of 25 (32%) in the victory of Denver match 3. He somewhat compensated for his difficulties on Sunday with an effort of 11 out of 14 at the line, but he missed two critical free throws at the end of the fourth quarter. A defensive effort led by Isaiah Hartenstein from Oklahoma City is definitely Jokić's crises.
“It's a team effort, I think,” said Hartenstein. “We are doing an excellent job of – Yes, it is especially my work to defend him head -to -head – but I do not think that my teammates leave me on an island. This is what makes him so good.
“He's going to take difficult photos, and you will have to live mentally with that. But I think we are doing a good job of swarming, rotating the right way and running a match plan.”
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Jokić has credited Oklahoma City's defense for showing him “a little of everything”.
“They are physical, they are useful, they come – they are good with the help,” said Jokić. “And sometimes I can't take a photo.”
Lamentable first quarter establishes several notes for futility
Maybe a local tip at 1:30 p.m. was not the best idea.
After a match 3 which went to overtime and left the two teams in the arena after midnight Friday, none of the teams seemed ready to play early on Sunday. In fact, they played the worst first quarter of the history of the NBA qualifiers – in terms of score, at least.
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The Thunder took an advance of 17-8 in the second quarter after a first which set several notes for futility. The 25 combined points were the least at the very first quarter in the history of the NBA qualifiers. For nuggets, their eight points scored Their lowest production in a single quarter of their post-season history. THE Game bet on 228.5 points in Betmgm has never been in danger.
It was a remarkable demonstration of offensive ineptus of the two teams, in particular nuggets. And a good defense cannot take all the credit. The two teams missed open sweaters several times. The air balls were numerous. Most of them were from a distance at 3 points.
Oklahoma City managed only one fact 3 out of 11 attempts. Lugentz Dort interrupted a thunder start of 0 for 8 at long distance with a 3 with 4:57 to play in the stanza. It is an effort for which the nuggets would surely have exchanged.
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Denver did not hit a single 3 in the first quarter. The Nuggets pulled 0 out of 13 long distance in an effort of 2 out of 21 of the land which stood out from the Teepid 6 of 22 performance of Oklahoma City.
Westbrook finally broke the drought of 3 points for Denver which extended to 0 for 16 in the second quarter. 3 Westbrook with 4:24 remaining half-time sent Ball Arena to a frenzy and reduced the Thunder's advance to 31-26.
Nuggets were somehow in the match, thanks to Oklahoma City's own difficulties. But slow start was finally too much for Denver.
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The two head coaches talked about the short period of pre-match period.
“It's an extremely short rest,” said Nuggets coach David Adelman. “We tried to stay as much as possible. … …
“It's a short rest for the two teams, of course. They are much younger. They watch different Netflix emissions than our guys.”
Adelman added that he thought that the nuggets were “ready to play”.
Daigneault minimized the execution time as something that would not give a team the advantage over the other.
“Not different from Denver is the way we look at him,” said Daigneault. “It is at the same time for them, the same reset for them. None of the two teams is in an advantage or a drawback with it, so we really do not think of it. It is an equal playground today for the two teams.”
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The Thunder finished the competition by pulling 35.6% of the soil and 24.4% (10 out of 41) out of 3; Nuggets pulled 31.3% in the field and 24.4% (11 out of 45) in the long term.
Match 5 is scheduled for Tuesday at 9:30 p.m. he in Oklahoma City.
