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**OKLAHOMA CITY**— On a night when one top-seeded team was eliminated for the summer, another claimed a crucial victory on the path to the conference finals.
The Oklahoma City Thunder faced a pivotal decision in a closely contested fourth quarter on Tuesday and resolved: We are not the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Indeed, they aren’t, at least for now. This semifinal showdown with the Nuggets will head back to Denver, but the tide has shifted in favor of OKC, which now holds a 3-2 advantage in the best-of-seven series.
The qualities that set OKC apart from the rest of the Western Conference — strong defense, effective ball movement, dominance in the paint, and the presence of Kia MVP contender Shai Gilgeous-Alexander — shone through in Game 5, particularly during the crucial moments of another nail-biting fourth quarter.
Once again, OKC broke free from the criticism of their inability to close out games.
While the Nuggets, buoyed by a return to form from Nikola Jokić, are still in contention, they are on shaky ground, urgently seeking answers after a game where they maintained control for significant stretches — their 12-point lead marked the largest of the series.
The final score was Thunder 112, Nuggets 105, setting the stage for a potential decisive blow on Thursday.
Here are five insights from this thrilling and suspenseful game, which hung in the balance midway through the fourth quarter:
The league’s youngest team, without championship rings in this series and facing a postseason experience gap… appeared more composed and intelligent in the fourth quarter. It defies logic. This trend is becoming routine for OKC and increasingly troubling for the Nuggets.
In that final quarter, which began with the Nuggets ahead by eight, the Thunder exhibited superior ball movement, decision-making, shot execution, and composure, defying expectations.
Where were Jokić’s teammates when it became apparent he was carrying the load alone? OKC’s defense deserves praise for limiting all but one Denver shooter. In the fourth, Jamal Murray was the only player to score outside of Jokić, and his basket came too late to make a difference with just 41 seconds to go.
As for clutch performances? Gilgeous-Alexander soared over Murray for an and-one, leveling the score. Moments later, the ball moved around the court until it reached Jalen Williams, whose 3-pointer put OKC ahead for good with 78 seconds remaining.
“The solution is never about a hero play or anything extraordinary,” Gilgeous-Alexander commented on the team effort. “It’s about trusting one another… it’s about being true to ourselves.”
Denver struggled, hitting only 5 of 21 shots in the fourth quarter, resulting in an 11-point deficit. They left Paycom Center knowing they let a golden opportunity slip through their fingers.
Jokić performed admirably, much like he did when the series began, presenting a challenge for OKC. In Game 1, he tallied 42 points and 22 rebounds, helping the Nuggets secure a win.
In the latest contest, he amassed 44 points and 15 rebounds, yet no victory accompanied his resurgence after a string of missed opportunities and careless errors. The version of Jokić that emerged in this game, who had struggled previously, was the one that opponents had feared.
He managed to decipher OKC’s defensive strategies, shooting 17 of 25, showcasing smooth touches, quick taps, and even a solid performance from three-point range (5-for-7).
However, Jokić’s assists were again lacking (just five), posing a problem. When faced with double teams, he struggled to connect with open teammates, or those teammates failed to convert. This became particularly detrimental in the fourth quarter when Jokić found himself isolated in his efforts.
Jokić played the entire second half, while Murray logged every minute of the fourth quarter. Nevertheless, the Nuggets felt the strain. Coach David Adelman remarked, “If fatigue is a factor, then that falls on me.”
The Nuggets went over seven minutes in the fourth without a field goal. Could fatigue be a factor?
Lu Dort delivered his most significant performance of this series, a bar that had been set rather low. He had struggled in the previous four games with open shots from beyond the arc, prompting coach Mark Daigneault to make tough decisions about his playing time, sometimes opting to bench Dort and lose his top defender in favor of Alex Caruso and/or Cason Wallace.
While Caruso and Wallace provided solid contributions in those instances, Dort’s performance didn’t force the coach’s hand this time.
Dort’s grit and timely contributions reflected OKC’s overall play. When the ball found him, he punished the Nuggets for neglecting him, finishing 4-for-8 from three-point range with all his shots coming in the second half.
Dort also hounded Murray rigorously, giving him little space to operate. While Murray found success in the first three quarters, Dort’s relentless defending took its toll; by the fourth quarter, Murray had limited minutes and shot 1-for-6, needing 27 attempts to score 28 points. Defenders would welcome such a shooting ratio anytime.
“There’s something special about him,” Daigneault said of Dort. “He always gets back up, always responds, always competes.”
Michael Porter Jr. is dealing with a bothersome left shoulder, providing him a valid justification for his performance. Yet that doesn’t diminish the reality — Porter Jr. has often been a liability in this series, having only scored in double digits once.
His shooting, which usually keeps him on the court, vanished on Tuesday. He attempted seven shots, making only one — mirroring his inefficiency from Game 3 — with every miss occurring at critical moments for the Nuggets. He failed to tie the game in the dying minutes, and his final shot was an airball. He didn’t land a single three-pointer and ended up with more fouls than points (four to one).
In his absence, the Nuggets scrambled for a deep-shooting alternative. They tried Julian Strawther, who had barely featured in the rotation this series, and gave Peyton Watson a shot. While they provided some hustle, they managed only two baskets combined.
As for Russell Westbrook? The ongoing skepticism regarding his declining abilities was evident as OKC left him wide open. He finished 1-for-7 from the field.
A notable point in Game 5 was that Jokić was not the only impactful big man on the court. The Thunder’s Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein posed their own challenges for Jokić, who found it hard to defend against them as well.
OKC often targeted Jokić to draw fouls and push him to the bench. While this strategy didn’t pay off in terms of fouls (Jokić’s first foul came late in the third quarter), it did have its benefits. The two seven-footers from OKC shot 13-of-19 and contributed 29 points, enhancing the Thunder’s offensive diversity. OKC effectively found the two big men with lobs and backdoor cuts, leading to Denver’s confusion and fueling the Thunder’s late-game comeback.
Interestingly, the Nuggets predominantly rely on a single big man. When Jokić rests, Aaron Gordon typically fills that role, with no moves made to revitalize DeAndre Jordan, who surprisingly excelled as a rebounder and interior defender in his limited minutes this season.
The Nuggets are running out of strategies and adjustments. Their focus now is singular: win Thursday, or face elimination.
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Shaun Powell has been covering the NBA for over 25 years. You can email him here, find his archive here, and follow him on X.
The opinions expressed on this page do not necessarily reflect those of the NBA, its teams, or Warner Bros. Discovery.
