Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scores 25
points and leads Thunder past Denver 92-87 to tie series 2-2
[May 12, 2025]
By ARNIE STAPLETON
DENVER (AP) — The Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Denver Nuggets at
their own game Sunday.
The NBA's youngest team made all the clutch plays in crunch time
against an experienced squad teeming with a championship pedigree,
knotting the second-round series with a 92-87 win in Game 4.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored nine of his 25 points in the fourth
quarter, pulling the top-seeded Thunder from the brink of a 3-1
deficit against a Denver team known for closing out games while
winning six of its last seven playoff series — and the two tight
games earlier in this series that resumes Tuesday night in Oklahoma
City.
About 36 hours after an exhausting overtime Game 3 Friday night, the
early Mother’s Day tip-off produced an ugly first half that featured
a combined 25 points in the first quarter and ended with OKC up
42-36 at the break.
“Quick turnaround with an early game today, we made an intentional
effort to use our depth today and get everybody going,” Thunder
coach Mark Daigneault said.
Down by eight points early in the fourth quarter, the Thunder used
an 11-0 run fueled by reserves Cason Wallace, who had a pair of
3-pointers, and Aaron Wiggins, who added another, to wrest control.
Wallace's second 3-pointer put Oklahoma City ahead for good at
75-73.
“I really thought the difference in the game was their bench kind of
lit a fuse for them,” Nuggets interim coach David Adelman said.
“They made 3s ... pretty incredible in a game where the two teams
shoot 21 of 86 from 3."
Denver looked poised to put the top-seeded team in the West on the
cusp of elimination when Aaron Gordon's turnaround jumper made it
73-66.
This time, however, it was the Thunder who came up big down the
stretch and the Nuggets who fumbled away the chance to put OKC in a
3-1 hole. Denver's many late miscues included a key five-second
inbounds violation.
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Oklahoma City Thunder guard Cason Wallace (22) drives to the basket
as Denver Nuggets guards Christian Braun (0) and Russell Westbrook
(4) defend in the second half of Game 4 in the Western Conference
semifinals of the NBA basketball playoffs Sunday, May 11, 2025, in
Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Nikola Jokic had 27 points and 13 rebounds but his
three assists were a low for this playoff run and gave him 22
assists to go with 23 turnovers in this second-round series.
Jokic said he never thinks about fatigue so he didn't blame anything
or anyone else for Denver's 31% shooting clip and 34 missed 3s. And
Adelman wouldn't go so far as to say the NBA erred with the early
tip-off, either.
“I don't want to say that,” Adelman said. “I will say that both
teams were very tired coming off an unbelievably physical overtime
battle late Friday night. ... I mean, both of us had super tired
legs, so it was about who's going to make that final run.”
Not his team, not this time.
“We fought. We stayed the course," Gilgeous-Alexander said, "... and
then we closed the game.”
The Thunder simply don't have Denver's playoff pedigree but
Daigneault said his team is gaining that much-needed experience by
the day.
“Every time you take punches and you get back up, you get stronger,”
he said. “That’s what we’re preaching to our team. We lost a tough
one the other night in overtime. We stood back up today."
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