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The Denver Nuggets and Oklahoma City Thunder clashed in an instant classic, with the Thunder coming out on top 112-105 after a thrilling back-and-forth game to take a pivotal 3-2 […]
The Denver Nuggets and Oklahoma City Thunder clashed in an instant classic, with the Thunder coming out on top 112-105 after a thrilling back-and-forth game to take a pivotal 3-2 series lead.
Game 5 meant everything in this series: no team had won two games in a row yet coming in to this game, so asking either team to win both Game 6 and Game 7, with one win being on the road, would be a tall task for either team. While this game can’t clinch the series winner, the winner will have a very strong chance to win this series.
And with heavyweights like the Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston Celtics, and Golden State Warriors all set to fall, the NBA Finals themselves feel very much up for grabs: it’s not an understatement to say the winner of this Game 5 could go on to win the 2025 NBA Finals.
Oklahoma City started the game on a quick 5-0 run, and following a Jamal Murray three-point miss, it could have gotten worse, but Nikola Jokic was able to corral the rebound and get the Nuggets on the board with his first basket of the night.
It started to look like Denver was ready to repeat their abysmal shooting performance from the first quarter of Game 4, but something must have clicked, as the Nuggets really couldn’t afford that with the Thunder firing on all cylinders in front of their home crowd at Paycom Center.
A dunk by Isaiah Hartenstein made it 12-2 Thunder just four minutes in to the game, with a potential blowout ala Game 2 already brewing. Denver was struggling from the field again, and missed their first six three-point attempts.
Then why not rely on three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic to get the offense going in the paint?
It started with four straight points from Aaron Gordon, then a Jamal Murray layup, then Jokic getting going with a bucket and a free throw, and Michael Porter Jr. slamming it down. The message was clear: if the outside shot isn’t there, let’s attack the basket.
A Denver team that started 1-of-9 from the field hit 11 of their next 13 shots. And the outside shot not falling? That went away quickly too. Christian Braun poured in two three-pointers and Peyton Watson added another before the quarter was over. The Nuggets held a 28-27 lead after the first quarter, and this was set to be a game.
The Nuggets endured another cold stretch, missing five straight shots, before Julian Strawther stroked a three-pointer near the end of the shot clock to give the Nuggets a 38-33 lead. Later, a Strawther steal led to a Jokic bucket on the other end, allowing the Nuggets to open up a seven-point, 40-33 lead with 6:46 left in the second quarter.
But the Thunder responded with a 8-2 run, capped by an Aaron Wiggins and Alex Caruso three-pointers, leading to timeout call by frustrated Nuggets head coach David Adelman. The Nuggets lead was down to one point with 5:07 left in the second.
The Nuggets then orchestrated a 11-2 run of their own, with five straight points all coming from Jokic, including a three-pointer on his first attempt of the game from that range. Murray also had four points on the run, using his athleticism to either hit acrobatic layups or get to the free throw line. Denver led 53-43 at the end of this run, with 3:08 left in the first half.
Jokic hit another three-pointer before the half, but a Gilgeous-Alexander signature and-one helped the Thunder cut right back in to Denver’s lead, helping fuel a 9-0 run by the Thunder to end the half in what was quickly becoming a game of runs.
The Nuggets led 56-54 at halftime, with both teams shooting over 46% from the field and over 35% from three-point range. Jokic led all scorers with 19 points on 8-of-13 shooting, while Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams paced the Thunder with 11 points apiece.
Jokic opened the second half with the first five points for the Nuggets, including his third three-pointer of the game. Jokic then grabbed a rebound on the other end, had to deal with contact all over him during the process with no foul call, and then assisted a Murray and-one on the other end to put the Nuggets up five points.
Murray and Gilgeous-Alexander traded buckets, making it 66-63 Denver leading in to a short break.
The Thunder cut Denver’s lead to just one point, before Jokic and Murray hit back-to-back three-pointers, putting the Nuggets up 72-65. Lu Dort answered with a three of his own, so Murray simply came back with another three-pointer, bringing his point total to 22 for the night. Jokic had 27 at this point, with Denver’s signature two-man game in full bloom.
Murray scored all eight Nuggets points in a quick 8-2 Denver run, and a moment later, Aaron Gordon drilled a three-pointer to put the Nuggets up 80-68, opening up their largest lead of the game with 5:07 left to play in the third, all while picking up their offensive pace. The first seven minutes of the third quarter resulted in a 24-14 Nuggets advantage, with Oklahoma City’s shots not falling and the Nuggets hitting everything.
The Thunder responded out of a timeout with, would you believe it, a quick 6-0 run, with four points from Chet Holmgren, to ensure the game wouldn’t slip away that easily.
Play got physical, with Jokic getting called for a personal foul after getting tangled up with Jalen Williams and Westbrook committing a foul reaching to steal the ball from Gilgeous-Alexander. After a brief scoreless moment, Jokic scored his 12th bucket of the night, then immediately took an offensive charging foul on the other end.
Jokic (twice) and Murray both grabbed offensive rebounds on the Nuggets’ next possession, before Jokic finally finished at the rim to put the Nuggets up 11 points with 1:57 left in the third quarter.
The third quarter ended with the usual chaos: Alex Caruso made a three-pointer, then was apparently fouled (according to the Oklahoma City crowd and honestly, there was a lot of contact) but Russell Westbrook responded with an airball three-point attempt, something he’s been good for about one a game lately.
Gilgeous-Alexander quickly (less than 10 seconds later) drilled a mid-range jumper, and Strawther missed a three-pointer for the Nuggets. Down just six points again, Gilgeous-Alexander missed a close shot, and who else but Westbrook himself came for redemption on the other end, hitting a driving layup in the quarter’s final seconds.
The Nuggets took an 86-78 lead in to the fourth quarter of a thrilling Game 5, with Jokic entering the fourth with 31 points and 12 rebounds on 13-of-19 shooting.
Westbrook actually shot another air-ball three-pointer early in the fourth, leading to a shot clock violation, but the Thunder were unable to capitalize, and missed their first two shots from the field prior to a Jokic bucket leading to a 90-81 Nuggets lead, prompting a Thunder full timeout with 10:10 left to play.
Just as the broadcasters lamented on the Nuggets blowing a 7-point lead with just about the same amount of time left in Game 4 (the Thunder used an 11-0 run to steal the win), Hartenstein committed a turnover after some sloppy passing, and Lu Dort was promptly called for a personal foul.
Still, the scoreboard didn’t budge for nearly two minutes, with the Nuggets clinging to their 90-81 lead. Dort broke the scoreless drought with a three-pointer to cut the Nuggets lead to six points.
Murray sunk a pair of free throws at the other end, but then Dort drained another three-pointer. Now, the Nuggets led by just five points with 7:49 left to play: an entirety with that small of a lead.
Dort missed his next three-point attempt, but broke the game’s newest scoreless drought (1:29) with another three-pointer, his third of the quarter, to cut the Nuggets lead to just 92-90, as Denver went over three minutes without a field goal.
Jalen Williams hit a pair of free throws to toe the game at 92 with 5:39 to play as the result of an 8-0 run by the Thunder. Jokic drew a foul call on the other end, hitting both of his free throws as well.
After missed three-pointers from Jalin Williams, Jokic, and Gilgeous-Alexander, the Thunder secured a long offensive rebound and got the ball to Holmgren, who finished near the basket to tie the game at 94.
The Nuggets didn’t need a shot attempt on their next possession: Hartenstein fouled Jokic on the floor, but the Thunder were over the penalty limit: 2-fo-2 at the line, 96-94 Nuggets.
Holmgren was forced to take a contested fadeaway that rimmed out, but Hartenstein secured the tip-in to tie the game, again, at 96.
Murray missed a layup for the Nuggets, and Gilgeous-Alexander put the Thunder up 98-96.
Jokic got a basket for the Nuggets after a furious sequence to tie the game up at 98, for the Nuggets first actual basket in nearly seven minutes of gametime.
Gilgeous-Alexander then found Hartenstein for a dunk, and Jokic responded with another basket, tying the game back up at 100.
Then, Gilgeous-Alexander hit an and-one shot to put the Thunder up three points with just two minutes left to play.
Jokic responded with an off-balance, fall-away three-pointer with time winding down on the shot clock over Holmgren. An incredible shot, with incredible stakes, from an incredible player, to bring his total to 44 points for the night, and tie the game at 103.
But a wide-open Jaylin Williams took that three-point lead right back, with 1:19 left to play.
Then, for some reason, ice-cold Michael Porter Jr, was tasked with taking perhaps the biggest shot of the Nuggets 2024-25 season. His three-pointer was no goof, and 2024-25 NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander nailed a three-pointer of his own to put the Thunder up six points with 47 seconds left to play.
ANOTHER Porter Jr. miss, an offensive rebound, and an Aaron Gordon miss: this game had officially slipped away from the Nuggets.
For the second straight game, the Nuggets held control in the fourth quarter, and got cold at the worst possible time.
The Thunder won 112-105 to take a 3-2 series lead despite a 44-point, 15-rebound night from Nikola Jokic, a night where the three-time NBA MVP shot 17-of-25 from the field and 5-of-7 from three-point range: he really couldn’t have been better.
But with Jamal Murray as his only consistent support, with Christian Braun shooting 3-of-12 from the field, and with the bench shooting 1-for-13 combined, the Nuggets fell short in the biggest moment of the season.
The series shifts back to Denver for Game 6 on Thursday night, where the Nuggets need a win on their home court to extend their season at least one more game and force a Game 7 back in Oklahoma City on Sunday.
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Header Photo Credit: The Oklahoman
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