And that’s exactly how they won game three on Friday night, beating the Thunder 113-104 in overtime behind 27 points from Jamal Murray, 22 from Aaron Gordon and 21 from one-armed Michael Porter Jr., who had his best game since spraining his left shoulder in the first game of the playoffs.
Just like in game one, which they stole on Gordon’s 3-pointer at the end, the Nuggets trailed most of the night and led by no more than two points in regulation before going on an 11-2 run in the extra period when the high-flying Thunder cashed in on just one of their nine possessions.
“I do believe late in games you can rely on what you’ve seen and felt and done,” interim coach David Adelson said of the Nuggets, who are two years removed from an NBA title.
The Nuggets took a 2-1 lead in the Western Conference semifinal series despite an off-night from Nikola Jokic, who had eight turnovers and missed 17 of 25 shots, including all 10 of his 3-pointers. He finished with 20 points, 16 rebounds and six assists.
“I mean, 20, 16 and six, what an awful NBA night,” cracked Adelman.
“I’m sure he’s frustrated,” Adelman added, “when you’re so efficient, maybe arguably one of the most efficient players to ever play any sport.
“Yeah, I get it. I get why he’s frustrated. But game four is going to come and he’s going to touch it a million times. Hope he shoots it all the time.”
Game four is on Sunday at Ball Arena.
“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.
“Losses always sting, especially in the playoffs.
“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 to rise to the challenges that you’re confronted with.” (AP)
