Nuggets Stage Comeback, Fall Apart Late in Tough Game 4 Loss, Thunder Tie Series 2-2

The Denver Nuggets came out at home, following a Game 3 win, with one of the worst starts in NBA playoff history. But in the second half, the Nuggets were up six points, Jamal Murray was shimmy-ing on the court, and Denver was less than 12 minutes away from a 3-1 series lead over the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder.

But Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder walked out of Ball Arena with the series tied 2-2, making this Western Conference Semifinals a best two-out-of-three series, with Oklahoma City holding homecourt advantage.

Previous Coverage: Series Prediction, Game 1, Game 2, Game 3

The Nuggets had an absolutely abysmal first quarter, hitting just 2-of-20 shots from the field and scoring just eight points. Luckily, Denver’s defense was able to hold Oklahoma City’s offense to a pretty tame 17 points, keeping the game’s margin within single digits despite the ugly showing on the offensive end.

The Thunder and Nuggets combined for 25 points in the first quarter of Game 4.

That is tied for the lowest in any playoff first quarter in the shot-clock era. pic.twitter.com/5u5ehhZ24Y
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) May 11, 2025

Denver bounced back and won the second quarter 28-25, making their halftime deficit a very manageable six points.

In the third quarter, the Nuggets had officially left their first quarter woes behind. Denver hit seven three-pointers in the third quarter, with five different players connecting from downtown.

The Nuggets took a six-point lead of their own following a Russell Westbrook three-pointer in the final minute of the third quarter. Denver took a 69-63 lead in to the fourth quarter, needing to just play some even basketball for 12 minutes in order to take a 3-1 series lead back to Oklahoma City.

But it’s not always that simple.

Less than four minutes in to the fourth quarter, the Thunder regained the lead on a Cason Wallace three-pointer, making the score 75-73 Oklahoma City. But it looked like it would be a back-and-forth affair for the game’s final eight minutes: a situation that has already led to two Nuggets wins this series.

Nikola Jokic made a close shot to cut the Thunder’s lead to 79-78 with 5:09 to play: but that’s as close as the Nuggets would be for the rest of the night.

But Gilgeous-Alexander hit his next two shots, the Nuggets committed a head-scratching five-second violation coming out of a timeout, and Isaiah Hartenstein added a point at the line. The Thunder were up six points with 4:07 to play, and once again with 3:01 to play: time was running out.

A moment earlier at 3:15, Jokic went 0-for-2 at the line, which really haunted the Nuggets and made them more desperate for offense as time dwindled.

Jokic made a layup at 1:25 to cut the Thunder’s lead to five points, but there simply wasn’t enough possessions left unless everything went perfect, something we wouldn’t have been saying if Jokic made those two free throws and the margin was just three points.

The Nuggets even got the ball back twice before Oklahoma City scored again, but couldn’t cut in to the five-point deficit, with Michael Porter Jr. and Jamal Murray both missing shots. After Murray’s miss from three at the 0:22 mark, realistic paths to victory dried up.

With 8 seconds left, Aaron Gordon was even awarded three free throws, albeit down seven points, but only connected on one of them. Following a double lane violation on his third attempt, the Nuggets won a jump ball and drained an Aaron Gordon three-pointer. It didn’t really matter but man, is Gordon money from downtown in these big moments.

But again, not enough possessions remained for it to matter. The Nuggets blew this game, but it wasn’t one moment that led to their loss, but rather a collection of small mistakes in the fourth quarter.

The potential 3-1 series lead slipped out of the Nuggets’ hands, and the series will be tied 2-2 heading back to Oklahoma City for Game 5, with the Thunder

Heading back to OKC all tied up 🍿

The Thunder take Game 4 ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/73RDURnPgq
— ESPN (@espn) May 11, 2025

Key Players Statistics

Nikola Jokic had an up-and-down night: finishing with 27 points, 13 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals, and 2 turnovers on 7-of-22 shooting, 2-of-8 three-point shooting, and 11-of-14 free-throw shooting. From the field, Jokic was not his normal self, and a few extra makes would have made all the difference for Denver.

Jamal Murray struggled as well, hitting just 5-of-15 shots for 17 points. Christian Braun shot 4-of-11 including 2-of-9 from three-point range.

Russell Westbrook had a particularly rough night, hitting just 2-of-11 shots, which included 2-of-9 three-point shooting, as well as some shots that were pretty off-base. Westbrook committed six turnovers and had a -20 court rating.

Michael Porter Jr. somehow managed a team-high +15 court rating despite doing almost nothing on offense: 1-of-7 shooting, 0-for-5 three-point shooting, and just three points to his name in this crucial Game 4.

For Oklahoma City, scoring was balanced: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the charge with 25 points, and Jalen Williams (10), Alex Caruso (10), Aaron Wiggins (11) and Cason Wallace (11) joined him in double figures.

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