When Nikola Jokic managed to rebound and put his missed floater back into the net in a sea of white Oklahoma City Thunder jerseys with 1:57 remaining in the third quarter of a crucial Game 5, the sold-out Paycom Center crowd looked in terror.
Jokic’s 31st point of the night propelled the Denver Nuggets to an 11-point cushion, its biggest lead of the series.
The same Thunder team that ravaged throughout the regular season appeared to be on the brink of second-round despair for the second consecutive season. Jokic looked like the MVP candidate he has been throughout his prime for the first time since Game 1, and playoff Jamal Murray was evident.
After blowing leads in Games 1 and 3, the Thunder needed to reverse the script on Denver and prove they were mature enough to win a title. The team responded.
Failure To Close
After dominating the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round, the Thunder came out of the gates firing in game one of the series against the Nuggets. OKC led by as much as 14 points in this game, but the Nuggets came out victorious.
In fact, with three minutes remaining, OKC had a 96.3% chance of winning according to ESPN Analytics. The Nuggets came back against all odds and shocked the Thunder in Game 1.
The Thunder offense seemingly disappeared in the clutch, and Jokic took over. The Serbian superstar scored 18 of his 42 points in the fourth quarter.
Thunder Head Coach Mark Daigneault decided to play the foul game early, and it backfired. Chet Holmgren missed both free throws and failed to maintain a three-point advantage.
After Holmgren’s second miss, the Nuggets blitzed the Thunder on the fast break. Former face of the Thunder franchise, Russell Westbrook, ran the break and found the trailing Aaron Gordon wide open at the arc.
Gordon capitalized, hitting his second game winner of the playoffs.
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Clutch Time Woes
The Thunder eviscerated the Nuggets in a 43-point game two victory. As the same team the NBA saw against Memphis and in the regular season came to light once again.
However, when the series flipped to Denver in Game 3, clutch time woes were evident once again.
Both MVP candidates were frozen in the back-and-forth brawl. It became a duel in the trenches, and the experienced Nuggets prevailed.
For the Thunder, as every other player sat cold, Jalen Williams stepped up. With a three and two free throws separated by a Murray travel, the Thunder led by three with a minute left.
The Thunder got the stop, as Jokic went for a quick two and missed the layup. The Nuggets refused to foul, and one bucket could have sealed the game.
The ice-cold MVP frontrunner Shai Gilgeous-Alexander took it upon himself to end the game. SGA took the shot that has been his bread and butter throughout his career, a 21-footer.
It hit the front rim, and the Nuggets had a chance to run once again. The Thunder defense lost Gordon at the perimeter once again, similarly to game one. Gordon hit the open three and sent Game 3 to overtime.
The Thunder offense disappeared in overtime, getting outscored 11-2 in the period. OKC found itself in a 2-1 series deficit, a difficult hole to be in, especially with another game in Denver on the horizon.
Despite the tough loss, Shai walked off the court smiling. What came after that moment has shown why.
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When Lightning Strikes, Thunder Follows
The Thunder were forced to face adversity for the first time in a dominant season. They were set with a task to show that this team is different and more mature than what was shown against Dallas a season ago.
Game 4 was a complete bloodbath, but the young Thunder came out of the storm victorious.
The score after the first quarter was a measly 17-8 in favor of the Thunder, but Denver clawed back into it. After winning the third quarter 33-21, Denver rocketed to an eight-point lead early in the fourth quarter after a Peyton Watson eight-footer.
The Thunder were on the brink of going down to a near-impossible 3-1 series deficit. After what was shown previously in the series, there were few signs of a comeback.
The bench mob of Alex Caruso, Cason Wallace, and Aaron Wiggins orchestrated a Thunder comeback. Wallace’s three with eight minutes left gave the Thunder a lead they never conceded.
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Gilgeous-Alexander consistently hit tough shots to close it out for the Thunder, as the Nuggets’ offense continued to go ice cold. OKC showed their toughness and won a game they would have lost earlier in the series, 92-87.
Game Five Heroics
Back in Oklahoma City, the Thunder found themselves in a similar spot in Game 5. This time, it felt different, as Jokic looked like an MVP and the Thunder could not string together consistent offense.
Down nine points with 10 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, the Thunder subbed in SGA and then ice-cold Luguentz Dort. Dort had only hit five of his last 27 attempts from three.
Daigneault trusted the longest tenured Thunder player, who knocked down threes at a 41.2% clip during the regular season. Dort responded massively.
Dort hit three three-pointers in a span of minutes, making it only a two-point game. He then miraculously saved a loose ball, setting up a Holmgren layup to tie it back up.
This woke up Loud City, and the momentum carried the Thunder throughout the rest of the game.
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The Thunder would score on all five clutch time possessions in the game, spearheaded by MVP-favorite SGA. He created 15 straight points to close it out for the Thunder amid a stellar duel between him and Jokic.
Gilgeous-Alexander got the moment he was searching for the entire series when he hit a pull-up dagger three to extend the OKC lead to six with 48 seconds left. The Thunder won a second straight game miraculously.
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This team has shown constant improvement throughout this series. They have shown why this team is different than young teams of the past.
The Thunder have been forced to mature in this series against the Nuggets, and have responded.
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