DENVER — The Denver Nuggets knew bouncing back from their 43-point loss would mean hanging with the turbo-charged, top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder so that they could tap into their experience, home environment and closing prowess.
And that’s exactly how they won Game 3 on Friday night, beating the Thunder 113-104 in overtime behind 27 points from Jamal Murray, 22 from Aaron Gordon and 21 from one-armed Michael Porter Jr., who had his best game since spraining his left shoulder in the first game of the playoffs.
Just like in Game 1, which they stole on Gordon’s 3-pointer at the end, the Nuggets trailed most of the night and led by no more than two points in regulation before going on an 11-2 run in the extra period when the high-flying Thunder cashed in on just one of their nine possessions.
“I do believe late in games you can rely on what you’ve seen and felt and done,” interim coach David Adelson said of the Nuggets, who are two years removed from an NBA title.
The Nuggets took a 2-1 lead in the Western Conference semifinal series despite an off-night from Nikola Jokic, who had eight turnovers and missed 17 of 25 shots, including all 10 of his 3-pointers. He finished with 20 points, 16 rebounds and six assists.
“I mean, 20, 16 and six, what an awful NBA night,” cracked Adelman.
“I’m sure he’s frustrated,” Adelman added, “when you’re so efficient, maybe arguably one of the most efficient players to ever play any sport. Yeah, I get it. I get why he’s frustrated. But Game 4 is going to come and he’s going to touch it a million times. Hope he shoots it all the time.”
Game 4 is Sunday at Ball Arena.
Jokic started the overtime flourish with a finger-roll layup and the Nuggets never trailed again.
“It’s obviously lousy to lose,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “But you can take a lot away, and we want to be a team that’s improving through the series. … I thought we did a lot of good things — did a lot of good things on (Jokic). It was a really hard-fought game by both teams. It wasn’t an easy game for anybody.”
The other NBA MVP front-runner, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, also had a tough night, missing 15 of 22 shots, going 1 for 6 from deep and finishing with 18 points. Jalen Williams led OKC with 32 points and Chet Holmgren chipped in 18.
It was tied at 102 after regulation, and both Gilgeous-Alexander and Jokic missed potential winners in the closing seconds of regulation. SGA missed a 12-foot jumper with 3 seconds left, and Joker missed a 19-footer at the buzzer.
“Losses always sting, especially in the playoffs,” Daigneault said. “But what I would say is we are in the process of becoming a great team, and we’ve checked a lot of boxes in that process. One thing that it takes to be a great team is you get taken to the limit in the playoffs, and you’ve got a rise to the challenges that you’re confronted with.”
