DENVER — Thunder coach Mark Daigneault consistently uses the term “let go of the rope” when describing effort. Even that might not do justice to the way Game 3 unraveled.
Oklahoma City fell, 113-104, in overtime Friday night at Ball Arena to fall into a 2-1 hole in the Western Conference semifinals.
It got outscored by the Nuggets by 12 in the fourth quarter and overtime. Denver outscored OKC 11-2 in overtime alone.
The Thunder, despite shooting 9 for 35 from deep, had things going for it. Nikola Jokic, who finished with 20 points, had one of his most inefficient games in his playoff career, shooting 8 for 25 and missing all 10 of his 3s. As a team, it snagged 13 more offensive rebounds than the Nuggets.
But Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander missed the memo. He scored 18 points on 7-for-22, going 1 for 8 in the fourth quarter. He didn’t attempt a shot in overtime.
The Thunder and Nuggets meet in Game 4 at 2:30 p.m. Sunday (ABC).
This article will be updated.
Joel Lorenzi covers the Thunder and NBA for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Joel? He can be reached at jlorenzi@oklahoman.com or on X/Twitter at @joelxlorenzi. Support Joel’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.
Thunder vs. Nuggets playoff schedule
Best-of-seven series. All times are Central Time (CT)
- Game 1: Nuggets 121, Thunder 119 | Box score
- Game 2: Thunder 149, Nuggets 106 | Box score
- Game 3:Nuggets 113, Thunder 104 (OT) | Box score
- Game 4: OKC at Denver | 2:30 p.m. Sunday, May 11 (ABC)
- Game 5 (If necessary): Denver at OKC | TBD Tuesday, May 13 (TNT)
- Game 6 (If necessary): OKC at Denver | TBD Thursday, May 15 (ESPN
- Game 7 (If necessary): Denver at OKC | TBD Sunday, May 18 (TBD)
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OKC Thunder stumbles late in Game 3 OT loss vs Nuggets in NBA Playoffs