Denver - Aaron Gordon won the dagger for the second time in three games. In the last minute of overtime, okc experienced some serious deja vu, with a baseline mid-sized jumper jumper ringing. From the first game loss and last year's playoff exit.
The Oklahoma City Thunders dry up when their offense was exhausted when the brightest lights lost to the Denver Nuggets in Game 3 of overtime in 113-104. They are now facing 2-1 rounds 2 series holes.
As expected, Game 3 was the most eye-catching outing between two heavyweights. Lead trackers are similar to cardiac monitors. Throughout the game, it moves up and down. Neither of the lead was leading. Halfway through, it was obvious that the game would come down to the last moment.
Thunder was the first person to punch. They led 28-22 in the first quarter. Chet Holmgren is busy with the frame 11 points. This is an encouraging sign considering how slow the Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is. Of course, he will eventually open it.
Alas, they couldn't build in the second quarter. The Nuggets hovered in the frame for 29 points. The Thunder entered the half with a 56-51 lead. That said, it feels like they leave their flesh on their bones. Too many open-air looks missed, Jill Alexander's struggle opened up for Denver.
With former champions, that's all they need. The Nuggets finally crawled back into the game. Michael Porter Jr.'s hot shots allowed them to tie it up with 69 points in less than six minutes left in the third frame. Prosperity, a brand new ball game.
Jokic's layup made Denver the first lead. The Nuggets scored 29 points again in the third frame. Jalen Williams fell into the groove and helped the Thunder lead 83-80 after the third quarter. This ensures a tense end as the family crowd refuses to sit in the entire last frame.
The leader goes back and forth. The fourth quarter showed the culmination of the NBA playoffs. The best players in the world are watching with thousands of fans that are worth mentioning. Williams is about to draw his name in Thunder Legends because he has the dominance of the fourth quarter.
Williams lagged 99-97 with two minutes left, and scored a return three-pointer, giving the Thunder a 100-99 lead. He added two more points as he drove to the rim and entered the free throw line. With 102-99 remaining 1:11, Oklahoma is almost a place to almost control the fate of the game.
OK, Thunder got it. Jokic missed driving layup. Gilgeous-Alexander tried to add playoff moments to his career when he tried Christian Braun's mid-range jumper. Instead, the ball hit the front of the rim. Gordon then tied it up with a high leverage angle three-pointer. Does it sound familiar?
Gilgeous-Alexander made a kill shot, but missed it on the float with two seconds left. Thunder breathed a sigh of relief when Jokic missed a desperate three-pointer as the buzzer rang. For the second time this season, OKC will play overtime.
It just said that progress is not going well. The Thunder attack collapsed. They cannot produce any quality look. Meanwhile, the Nuggets scored the first 7 points and eliminated them. Overall, Oklahoma State beat 11-2 in the last five minutes as Jill Alexander couldn't break Denver's defense and Williams rarely saw the ball.
The Thunder shot 39% from the field and 9 out of 35 points (25.7%). Their free throw percentage was 15 shots. They had 24 assists on 40 baskets. Four Thunder players scored double-digit points.
Gilgeous-Alexander scored 18 points in 22 shot attempts. Williams' 32-point masterpiece was wasted. Homgren's doubles were 18 points. Isaiah Hartenstein also scored 10 points in doubles.
Meanwhile, the Nuggets shot 46% from the field and 16% from 40 (40%). Their free throw percentage was 19 shots. They had 25 assists on 39 baskets. Four Nuggets scored double digits.
Jokic struggled with 20 points on 8 from 25 shooting percentage, 16 rebounds and 6 assists. Jamal Murray burst out with efficient 27 points and 8 assists. Gordon scored 22 points and 8 rebounds. Porter Jr. scored 21 points on 7 of 10 shots.
Just like last year’s playoff series against the Dallas Mavericks, the Thunder’s offense collapsed in a tightening time. Apart from that, Gilgeous-Alexander was unable to rescue them. They only scored 21 points in the last 17 minutes. They didn't score in the last 1:11 of the regulations.
Just like the first game, it all won thunder. They won the ball possession battle and tried 19 more shots than Denver. They were led all night. One of the worst playoffs ever. Instead, the Nuggets took the victory from their defeated jaws.
Sometimes, that's what these playoff series do. The Thunder have performed better in most of the teams in the first three games, but the Nuggets have been able to linger and strengthen in the last moments. At the same time, OKC's lack of tightening experience has been exposed in the entire NBA world.
The Thunder must win Game 4. The playoff series is coming soon. If they can't, then the Nuggets will likely be easy to cruise. But if they can, they will get Homecourt Advantage in the second round of possible entry to Game 7.
Let's take a look at the results of the Thunder players:
As the last buzzer rang, all Gilgeous-Alexander could do was smile. He knew what was happening in front of him. The upcoming news cycle is not kind to him, and so is it. With his teammates lingering in the first three quarters, the MVP candidate’s career is the worst.
Gilgeous-Alexander scored 18 points on 7 of 22 shots, 13 rebounds and 7 assists. He shot 1 from 3, made 3 free throws and 3 free throws. He also had two steals.
All of these numbers are well below his standards. Gilgeous-Alexander's jump shot wasn't a killer, he put bread and butter on the basket. The Nuggets’ hip zone defenses have him scrambled to find solutions he never found.
It doesn't look worse than the fourth quarter and overtime. Gilgeous-Alexander made eight shot attempts in the last frame. As Thunder panics in the halftime, he tried to isolate the surroundings, without juice.
What's worse is overtime. Gilgeous-Alexander had a chance to win a tense playoff game and didn't even try a shot in five minutes. Instead, he saw his squad play a winable game through their fingers. He disappeared in the background.
Just a terrible manifestation. There is no way. His teammates gave Gilgeous-Alexander a look. Instead, he fell down as the Denver crowd roared at the Denver crowd in Game 3. It's time for Game 4.
Thanks to the Monsters' fourth quarter, the Thunder's All-Stars brought their All-Stars, bringing them a huge victory. Just the All-Star player they might guess.
In the best playoffs of his career, Williams almost brought the thunder to the finish line. He scored a total of 32 points in 21 goals, 5 assists and 3 rebounds. He hit 3 out of 3 and 7 out of 8 free throws.
Throw out the ugly results. Williams made any criticism of any of his critics after two games against the Nuggets. The 24-year-old, who won three MVP titles on the court and a possible MVP title this year, was the best player at Ball Arena on Friday.
In one of his best careers, Williams has one of his best fourth quarter takeovers. As the Thunder's offense stagnated, he scored 16 points on the rim and obtained an illusory self-created jumper on the rim. The large three-pointer pushed OKC's lead to 100-99 with 1:50 left.
Williams then made two free throw attempts to make it a 102-99 game. This is done from the thunder, the rest of the regulations. No one else can score. In overtime, he scored no points, only two shot attempts, and Oklahoma's offense was in a dilemma.
What a waste of masterpiece. Williams is enough to secure this victory. Gilgeous-Alexander can only put that level there in the all-time victory of the OKC playoffs. Instead, it will join Alex Caruso's first game in Vain Hall.
If you use a game to describe Homgren’s career, then this is the perfect reference. It's very early, but being late is not enough. The 24-year-old destroyed Denver's paint defense early on but didn't do much in the last three quarters.
Thunder needs others to step up besides Williams. It could have been Holmgren, but it also faded into the background. He scored 18 points, 16 rebounds and 3 blocks on 7 of 19 shots. He shot 1 from 3 and 3 from 3 free throws.
Everyone who doubts the Thunder will receive a serious title because of their youth and inexperience. Because the importance of property is multiplied by ten times, players like Holmgren cannot get a lot of much-needed buckets when standing on the edge.
Homegren disappeared in the fourth quarter and overtime. This happened a lot during his tenure at OKC. And again happened at the biggest moment of the season.
All Hartenstein's patented floaters missed three balls. It's also very embarrassing. Add him to a long list of Thunder players who shrank in the biggest moments of Major Game 3.
At its biggest moment, Hartenstein tried to play most of the thunder in overtime. This is their half-court offense ratio in tight time when they get stuck in the last moments of the round-trip game.
Hartenstein scored 10 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists on 5 of 14 shots. He had a block and steal.
Thunder needs to provide better production from Hartenstein. Inefficiency inside paint is another drawback they can’t overcome in this headache-filled loss. The offense is the worst. The seven-foot struggle is another time when OKC died from a thousand sheets of paper.