Thunder Take 3-2 Lead Behind SGA’s MVP Performance
In what has been the best series of the NBA playoff semi-finals, Tuesday night’s decisive Game 5 was no different between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Denver Nuggets. The Thunder entered the fourth quarter trailing the Nuggets 86-78, with Denver looking unstoppable on the offensive end. That was until the likely league MVP in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander came alive to help lead the Thunder to an exciting 112-105 win to take a 3-2 series lead.
The Duel Of the MVPs
Coming into the series, the key to either team’s victory hinged on which MVP finalist could out-duel the other. Last night was the best game from both Jokic and SGA. After a slow start in the first half, SGA started to catch fire in the third quarter, scoring 10 of his 31 points to help keep the Thunder within striking distance.
He also hit the dagger three to seal the win for the Thunder. For the Nuggets, Nikola Jokic put on yet another offensive masterclass to try to carry them to victory. The three-time MVP finished the night with a staggering 44 points and 15 rebounds in the loss for Denver.
The Lu Dort Show
While SGA put on the finishing touches for the Thunder in the fourth quarter, it was Dort who kick-started the late-game rally for Oklahoma City. The 3-and-D wing dropped 9 of his 12 points in the final period, including three triples within two minutes to cut into the Nuggets’ lead. Those triples were the key in helping to break open the Nuggets zone defense, which allowed SGA more room to attack and score.
Nuggets Run Out of Steam
When examining what exactly led to the Nuggets total collapse in the fourth quarter, a few things jump out. The bench unit for the Nuggets was unable to provide an extra boost on offense, being outscored by the Thunder bench 22-10. The secondary stars for the Nuggets, in Michael Porter Jr. and Jamal Murray, were also unable to take the scoring pressure off of Jokic.
While Murray finished with 24 points, the Canadian sharpshooter only managed to score 4 points in the fourth quarter as the Thunder shut down his two-man action with Jokic. As for MPJ, the Nuggets forward finished the game with only 2 points on 1-for-7 shooting from the field. It was his second straight game scoring under 5 points and fourth single-digit scoring output of the series.
Final Thoughts
The Thunder are firmly in the driver’s seat heading into Game 5 on Thursday night in Denver, while the Nuggets will have many questions heading into the game. The biggest key to the Thunder advancing to their first conference finals in 9 years will be the play of SGA.
The Thunder superstar has seemingly found his rhythm in the last two games, which might spell doom for the Nuggets. However, games 3 and 4 in the Mile High City showed that this Thunder team still has its moments of inexperience showing through on the road. Expect another high-octane affair between these two teams, as well as another all-time duel between the two MVP finalists.
