The Oklahoma City Thunder found themselves in unfamiliar territory this season when the Denver Nuggets defeated them in game 1 to take control of the series. The Thunder were able to win Game 2 to even the series, but had already squandered the home-court advantage they entered the season with.
The Nuggets responded with a gritty win in Game 3 to regain control of the series.
It looked as if the Thunder were going to find themselves deep in a hole on Sunday afternoon when the Nuggets started to pull away again. However, the Nuggets clutched up and their young players made all the right plays to come away with a 92-87 win in Game 4 and even the series back up at 2-2.
“I really thought the difference in the game was their bench kind of lit a fuse for them,” Nuggets interim coach David Adelman said after the game, per ESPN.
“They made 3s … pretty incredible in a game where the two teams shoot 21-of-86 from 3.”
It was a rough go of things for both teams on the offensive side of the ball, something that wasn’t lost on Thunder star and MVP favorite Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
“We fought,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “We stayed the course … and then we closed the game.”
“Every time you take punches and you get back up, you get stronger,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault 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.”
