Four Denver Nuggets reached 20 points, as the Oklahoma City Thunder fell 113-104 after scoring two points on eight overtime possessions.
The Thunder led 95-93 entering clutch time. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander missed a step-back jumper before Nikola Jokic found a cutting Aaron Gordon, who made both free throws. Jalen Williams reached a playoff career-high 27 points with a driving finish, and Jamal Murray responded by sinking two more free throws. Both teams went scoreless on their next five combined possessions.
Murray converted a step-back shot against Isaiah Hartenstein, giving Denver a two-point advantage, but Jalen Williams swished a long second-chance three and made two free throws after a late-clock Christian Braun foul. Aaron Gordon drilled a wide-open corner 3-pointer to tie the game, and Gilgeous-Alexander missed his seventh straight jumper in the final seconds. Jokic missed a contested look at the buzzer.
Jokic's driving layup, Porter Jr.'s catch-and-shoot three and Murray's transition layup gave Denver an overtime lead it did not relinquish.
Murray led Nuggets scorers with 27 points on 9-for-19 shooting, eight assists, four rebounds, four steals and a block.
Gordon recorded 22 points on 7-for-11 shooting, eight rebounds, five assists and a steal. Porter Jr. logged 21 points on 10 shots, eight rebounds and an assist.
Jokic finished with 20 points on 8-for-25 shooting, missing all 10 3-point attempts. He also registered 16 rebounds, six assists, two steals, two blocks and eight turnovers.
Jalen Williams tallied 32 points on 11-for-21 shooting, five assists and three rebounds for the Thunder.
The Thunder started Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Luguentz Dort, Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein.
The Nuggets started Jamal Murray, Christian Braun, Michael Porter Jr., Aaron Gordon and Nikola Jokic.
Denver started the game playing zone defense. Hartenstein found a cutting Jalen Williams to open the action and converted two floaters on Oklahoma City's following four trips. Porter Jr. drained back-to-back threes coming off flare screens to jumpstart the home team's offense. Jokic scored his first field goal on a difficult turnaround over Jaylin Williams six minutes in, cutting the Thunder's lead to 17-16.
An aggressive Holmgren highlighted the first-quarter Thunder offense. He caught two alley-oops from Jalen Williams, made a driving layup past Jokic, drained a 3-pointer and drew two free throws in his first stint, adding six rebounds and a block. The Nuggets did not make a field goal in the final 4:29, missing six outside attempts but drawing free throws on drives to the basket. Oklahoma City bricked five jumpers in the final two minutes but led 28-22 after the first frame.
Russell Westbrook found a cutting Porter Jr. and executed a steal-and-slam to start the second quarter. Denver then made four straight jump shots, including three triples, taking its first lead on a Peyton Watson corner 3. Oklahoma City kept pace with two Jalen Williams mid-range baskets and a Cason Wallace blow-by layup. Holmgren ended both teams' minutes without Gilgeous-Alexander and Jokic by slamming consecutive dunks.
Aaron Wiggins delivered a driving floater, second-chance 3-pointer and transition layup in quick succession to force a Nuggets timeout. Hartenstein then made a difficult finish over Jokic and put back Dort's transition miss for another layup. Oklahoma City led 56-51 at halftime despite shooting 4-for-18 on 3-pointers and 6-for-10 on free throws.
Jalen Williams initiated things for the Thunder right after the break, finding Hartenstein for a high-low dunk and making back-to-back interior baskets. Braun, meanwhile, made a driving layup and corner triple on consecutive trips. Two mid-quarter Gilgeous-Alexander driving finishes were sandwiched between eight Oklahoma City missed field goals. Jokic put in a cross-match layup to give Denver a 71-69 advantage with 5:13 left in the third quarter.
Alex Caruso nailed back-to-back threes to break a sustained drought, but the Nuggets' role players continued to produce on offense. Gordon flushed a second-chance dunk, Murray made a tough reverse layup and Watson blocked Holmgren beforemaking his second triple of the night. The Thunder led 82-80 entering the final quarter.
Game 4 between Oklahoma City and Denver begins this Sunday, May 11 at 2:30 p.m. CST.
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