3 Takeaways From OKC Thunder’s Tight Game 3 Loss in Denver

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has to play like an MVP

The Thunder’s franchise player has been in the playoffs a few times in his young career, but his struggles in this 2025 run are eye-opening. After the Thunder earned a massive 43-point win on Wednesday, Gilgeous-Alexander had arguably his worst game of the season when the Thunder needed him most in a 1-1 series.

Against Denver, Gilgeous-Alexander scored only 18 points on 7-of-22 shooting. After missing clutch attempt after clutch attempt in the fourth quarter, he failed to even get a shot up in overtime.

With two separate versions of disappearing acts in the final minutes on offense, the Thunder’s MVP will need to respond loudly in Game 4 to ensure his team isn’t facing elimination when they head back to Oklahoma City for Game 5.

While Jalen Williams' 32-point performance was almost enough to get the Thunder over the hump in regulation, Gilgeous-Alexander's inability to perform in the clutch might have cost his team this game and could be a significant factor in the series result.

The Thunder’s clutch performance is worrying

Aside from Oklahoma City’s huge blowout victory in Game 2, this second-round series has featured two clutch games. The Thunder have failed to win either one and have looked out of sorts down the stretch in each loss.

Oklahoma City’s Game 1 collapse seemed to be a fluke and something the team would learn from. While Game 2 appeared to show that learning curve to an extent, the Thunder reverted into their bad habits on Friday when another clutch situation presented itself.

Throughout the final minutes of regulation and into overtime, the Thunder failed to generate good looks and almost exclusively relied on one-on-one play to try and score often tough buckets. 

Getting the defense to adjust to the Thunder’s actions late in games needs to be a point of emphasis moving forward. If the Thunder continue to make things easy on Denver’s clutch defense, the tough shots will continue to be the only type Oklahoma City sees.

OKC’s shooting can be a liability 

Throughout the regular season, the Thunder were the league’s sixth-best 3-point shooting team at 37.4% while also finishing top 10 in attempts. As one of the NBA’s most efficient and most frequent outside shooting teams, it seemed like the Thunder had a formula that could carry over to the postseason.

However, the Thunder’s shooting hasn’t translated to the playoffs thus far. In the first six games of the playoffs, the Thunder hit their season average of 37.4% just twice. In Game 3 against Denver, the Thunder again failed to hit that mark, going only 9-of-35 from beyond the arc.

The Thunder’s shooting struggles go beyond just the 3-point line, with the team converting only 15 of its 22 free-throw attempts. Although the Thunder seemed to win the battle in the margins, those advantages can become minimal or nonexistent when they shoot this poorly.

Now trailing 2-1, the Thunder need a big response in Game 4 to avoid a nearly insurmountable 3-1 hole. Oklahoma City was in this same spot last season and managed a win to knot its second-round series at two apiece before falling to Dallas in six games.

The Thunder will look to write a new chapter this season, beginning with Game 4 on Sunday afternoon in a quick turnaround after this overtime battle.