The Denver Nuggets (56-36 straight up, 43-47-2 against the spread) took a 2-1 series lead over top-seeded Oklahoma City by winning a 113-104 decision in overtime in Friday’s Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals.
Denver won outright as a six-point home underdog, hooking up money-line supporters with a +220 return. Despite going to OT, the 217 combined points still dropped ‘under’ the 232-point total.
After getting blasted by 43 points in Game 2 at OKC, the Nuggets trailed for most of Game 3 and never led by more than two points until going on an 11-2 run in the extra session. They limited the Thunder to one basket in nine OT possessions.
“I do believe late in games you can rely on what you’ve seen and felt and done,” Denver interim head coach David Adelson said of his team, which won the 2023 NBA Finals under Michael Malone just two years ago.
Jamal Murray led the way for the winners with 27 points, four rebounds, four steals and eight assists compared to only two turnovers. Aaron Gordon, who drained the game-winning 3-pointer at OKC in the series opener, had 22 points, eight rebounds and five assists with merely one turnover.
Nikola Jokic had an off night, but he still finished with 20 points, 16 boards, six assists, two steals and a pair of blocked shots. However, he made only 8-of-25 field-goal attempts, missed all 10 of his launches from 3-point land and coughed up eight turnovers.
Michael Porter Jr. drained 5-of-6 treys and 7-of-10 FGAs in a 21-point effort, and he also snagged eight rebounds. The Nuggets hit 16-of-40 (40.0%) attempts from downtown, while the Thunder made just 9-of-35 (25.7%) from long distance.
Like Jokic, OKC’s star and NBA MVP favorite, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, had a rough Game 3. Bettors taking the ‘over’ for his prop bet for points scored (32.5) had to rip up their tickets when SGA managed only 18 points.
Gilgeous-Alexander made merely 7-of-22 FGAs, 1-of-6 attempts from 3-point land and 3-of-5 free throws. He had 13 rebounds, seven assists and two steals.
Jalen Williams scored a game-high 32 points and dished out five assists in the losing effort. Chet Holmgren finished with 18 points, 16 boards, three blocked shots and one steal.
Trailing 99-97 with 1:50 remaining in regulation, Williams buried a 3-pointer to put OKC back into the lead. After forcing a turnover at the other end, Williams drew a foul and made both free throws to extend OKC’s advantage to 102-99 with 1:11 left.
After both teams had empty offensive trips, Gordon pulled Denver even by hitting a 23-footer with 27.1 seconds remaining.
At the other end, SGA got into the lane but missed a floater that was rebounded by Jokic with 2.1 ticks left. After using their final timeout, the Nuggets got Jokic a look at a potential game-winning 20-footer, but it was off the mark.
Denver scored the first seven points of OT. Jokic put his team in the lead with a bucket at the rim, then Porter knocked down a triple before Murray’s mid-range jumper put the Nuggets ahead 109-102 with 3:02 left.
After Holmgren’s basket cut the deficit to five with 1:56 remaining, Jokic countered with a 10-footer. After getting another stop, Denver’s Gordon inserted the dagger with a short jumper for a 113-104 advantage.
“It’s obviously lousy to lose,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “But you can take a lot away, and we want to be a team that’s improving through the series. … I thought we did a lot of good things — did a lot of good things on (Jokic). It was a really hard-fought game by both teams. It wasn’t an easy game for anybody.”
As of late Saturday morning, most books had OKC (73-17 SU, 58-24-4 ATS) installed as a six-point road favorite for Sunday’s Game 4 at Ball Arena. The total was 227.5 points, and the Nuggets were +215 on the money line at Circa.
Despite trailing the series 2-1, FanDuel still has OKC as the -235 favorite to advance to the West finals. Denver is a +194 underdog.
The updated series spread has the Thunder -1.5 games for a +198 payout. Bettors can take the Nuggets -1.5 games for a +340 return.
FanDuel had OKC as +110 ‘chalk’ to win the NBA Finals going into Game 3. The Thunder remain the favorite at +175 odds, followed by Boston (+330), Cleveland (+490), Minnesota (+900) and Denver (+1000 or 10/1). The rest of the board looks like this: New York (11/1), Indiana (20/1) and Golden State (36/1).
“Losses always sting, especially in the playoffs,” Daigneault said. “But what I would say is we are in the process of becoming a great team, and we’ve checked a lot of boxes in that process. One thing that it takes to be a great team is you get taken to the limit in the playoffs, and you’ve got a rise to the challenges that you’re confronted with.”
Game 4 will be televised on ABC at 3:30 p.m. Eastern.