Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) – The Oklahoma City Thunder withstood Denver’s second-half comeback bid to beat the Nuggets 92-87 on Sunday and level their NBA Western Conference semi-final series at two games apiece. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 25 points with six rebounds and six assists, and the Thunder clamped down defensively to come up with a win in a game in which both teams struggled to get their offenses firing.
The Thunder, the top seeds in the West after a league-best 68 regular-season wins, connected on just 31 of 87 shots from the field — only marginally better than Denver’s 25-for-80 success rate. But after Denver seized the lead for the first time in the third quarter, Oklahoma City pulled ahead again on Cason Wallace’s three-pointer with 8:35 left in the fourth and held on until the end. “We got stops, held them to 18 points in the fourth quarter,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “They obviously came out hot after halftime, jumped on us, but defensive end is always it for us …we got it back on track and we were able to get a W.”
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Having avoided falling into a 3-1 hole, the Thunder host game five on Tuesday. “Every game is do or die against a really good team,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “One game could shift the complete control of the series.” NBA Most Valuable Player Nikola Jokic scored 27 points and grabbed 13 rebounds for Denver, who shook off a dismal start and grabbed a 53-52 lead midway through the third quarter on a three-pointer from Aaron Gordon. Jamal Murray and Christian Braun scored 17 points each and Gordon added 15 for Denver, who extended the lead to eight points early in the fourth, but less than 48 hours after a draining overtime triumph in game three on Friday, the Nuggets couldn’t hang on.
“Give their team credit, in a really disgusting basketball game, those guys made plays, made enough plays to push them over the edge and win the game,” Nuggets coach David Adelman said. “I thought tired legs out there from both teams,” Adelman added, pointing to 35 points from the Thunder bench — compared to eight from Denver’s reserves, as the real difference maker. That included 11 points each from Aaron Wiggins and Wallace and 10 from Alex Caruso, and Thunder coach Mark Daigneault called their contribution “huge.”
Later Sunday, the Indiana Pacers hosted the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Pacers trying to stretch their 2-1 series lead over the Eastern Conference top seeds. The Pacers won the first two games of the series in Cleveland, but the Cavaliers, fueled by a 43-point performance from Donovan Mitchell and a strong defensive effort on Indiana star Tyrese Haliburton, won game three on Friday.
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