Thunder-Nuggets: 5 snack bars, like OKC 44 by Nikola Jokić in game 5

Oklahoma City -In one night in which a team was sent home for the summer, the other took an important step towards a trip to the conference final.

The thunder was urged to make a decision in a close fourth quarter and decided: we are not the Cleveland Cavaliers.

No, they are not. At least at the moment. And maybe never. This semi-final series with the Nuggets is Gong back to Denver, but the momentum is back with OKC, together with a 3-2 lead in the best von seven.

All factors that OKC over all other in the West increased defense, ball lading, presence in color and an MVP candidate in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander-Waren in game 5 and especially in another tense fourth quarter.

Okc shook again in front of an annoying rap because it wasn't finished.

And while the nuggets, which Nikola Jokić received a welcomed return to the dominance, are not finished, they are after a game that overlooked a large part of the control 12-point leadership was their largest of the series that they were looking for for solutions at the moment.

It was Thunder 112, Nuggets 105 and the OKC Knockout Punch could come on Thursday.

Here are five snack bars of this entertaining and exciting game, which was a coin flip in the middle of the fourth quarter:

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1. Oklahoma City remains stable again

The youngest team in the league, the one without rings in this series, which was smarter and quieter with the post -season … in the fourth quarter. Make it sense. This will be for OKC and nightmare for the nuggets.

In this last quarter, which started with an eight-point Nugget lead, the ball movement of the Thunder, the decision making, the shot finding and the nerves were simply better and defies every logic.

Where were Jokić's teammates when it became clear that he alone owed the cargo? Well, Credit Okc's defense that the Handcu -S used for all Denver shooters. The only non-Jokić basket from Jamal Murray came in the fourth quarter, and it was a meaningless with a 41 second lead.

And big recordings? Shai increased Murray for one and one and brought the game. Then the ball found Jalen Williams after he was led around the ground and searched for the open man. His 3 pointer broke the tie for
Good with 78 seconds.

“The answer is never a heroic game or something unusual,” said Shai about the team. “It trusts each other … it is what we are.”

Denver shot in the fourth 6-against-20. The nuggets were exceeded at 11. And they missed the Paycom Center, knew that they left out an opportunities.

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2. Jokić is finally masterful, but too little and too late

In this game, Jokić delivered the same way in which he opened this series – by being a problem for OKC. In game 1, Jokić had 42 points and 22 rebounds and helped the Nuggets to steal the victory.

Lately he has had 44 points and 15 rebounds, but no victory to show the resumption of misjudged shots and uncomfortable mistakes. This version of the joker, who stumbled through the last three games, was nowhere to be found on Tuesday. He knew that he had to crack the OKC defensive code. What he did. He made 17 out of 25 shots. The soft touch, the tap-ins and even the 3-to-7-3 pointers (5-by-7) worked again.

However, the problem was lean again with assists, only five, and this was a problem. Whenever the double team arrived, he either couldn't find the open man or the open man could not find the basket. This combination was particularly expensive in the fourth quarter when Jokić was a one-man show again.

Jokić played the entire second half and Murray the whole fourth quarter. But Denver was desperate. Nuggets coach David Adelman said: “If it's fatigue, that's up to me.”

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3 .. there delivers at both ends

This was LU Dorts most effective performance in this series, and the bar was pretty low. He spent a large part of the previous four games performing from the depths and forced coach Mark Daigneeault to make the difficult decision, which were too favorable there – and thus lose his best defender – in favor of Alex Caruso and/or Cason Wallace.

Caruso and Wallace were solid in these situations. This time the hand of the trainer is not forced.

Toughness and timing were reflected in OKC. When the ball arrived, he had Denver paid for ignoring it-shot 4-to-8 from a 3-point range.

Murray constantly pressed there and gave him a precious little room in which he could work. Murray had limited his good routes, mainly to the first three quarters. He was finally worn out of there and minutes and was missing in the fourth (one for six shots). He needed 27 shots to score 28 points. Defenders will take this relationship every day of the week.

“It has a special thing about him,” said Daigneult about there. “He will get up again and again. He will always answer, he will always compete.”

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4. Porter Jr. is puzzling and maybe not playable

Porter Jr. works with a problematic left shoulder, so he has a legitimal apology. Nevertheless, this does not reject reality – MPJ was mostly a liability in a series in which he only achieved two digits once.

His jump shot, which holds him on the floor, was steam on Tuesday. He made only seven shots, missed six-sie copied his game 3 in game 3 and all rails to achieve crucial, soul-found times for the nuggets. He missed the chance to bind the game in the last few minutes and his last shot was an airball. He did not make a 3 pointer and had more fouls than buckets (four to one).

If he doesn't hit, the nuggets look for a deep replacement. They tried Julian Strawther, a spirit in the rotation in this series, and gave Peyton Watson a chance. They helped play at Hustle, but only made two combined shots.

Russell Westbrook? The disrespect for his fading skills continued when OKC left him open. He shot 1: 7 out of the field.

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5. OKC punished in the color

The sneaky little secret in game 5 was that Jokić was not the only important tall man on the floor. The thunder had a couple in Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein that Jokić couldn't stop – but Jokić couldn't stop them either.

Okc attacked Jokić, if possible, partially in an effect to draw fouls and send it to the bench. This strategy did not work exactly; He only deserved his first foul in the late third quarter. But there were advantages. The two OKC-Sieben footers shot 13:19 and their 29 points contributed to diversifying the thunder of thunder. OKC found the two big men at Lobs and Backdoor cuts, which confused the verver and contributed to leading the late rally of the thunder.

It is interesting how the nuggets mainly only use a big man. Whenever Jokić rests, Aaron Gordon usually takes on this position. Obviously, there is no interest in shaking the cobwebs of De'andre Jordan, who surprisingly was a good rebounder and central defender this season.

Well, the nuggets no longer have options and adjustments. You are left with a goal – win Thursday or otherwise.

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Shaun Powell has covered the NBA for more than 25 years. You can send him an email Here you will find his archive here and follow him X.

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