Nuggets rob the Thunder again, take 2-1 series lead with awesome OT win

The Denver Nuggets did it again.

After robbing the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 1 earlier this week, Game 3 at Ball Arena on Friday night had a similar vibe.

The Nuggets were down 102-99 when Aaron Gordon hit a corner three-pointer. Sound familiar?

Just like he won Game 1 with his heroics, Gordon tied the game and it eventually went to OT. Denver took control in overtime, outscoring OKC 11-2 and sending downtown Denver into a frenzy.

They now lead this Western Conference semifinals series by a score of two games to one. A pivotal Game 4 will be held in just about 36 hours at Ball Arena.

Jamal Murray finished with 27 points, Gordon with 22, Michael Porter Jr. with 21 and Nikola Jokic with 20. Denver’s starters showed up in a big way, with Christian Braun adding eight and Russell Westbrook scoring eight off the bench.

This was never easy, but they found a way to get it done.

The Nuggets came out firing in the third quarter, but unfortunately the Thunder were also up for the task. In a back-and-forth affair, it seemed like every time one team made a big bucket, the other team had an answer. When it was all said it done, OKC was up on Denver by four points with just 12 minutes to go.

The first half for the Nuggets was a frustrating one, particularly for Jokic. He finished just 2-9 from the field with eight points and five turnovers. The Serbian superstar did have nine rebounds, but it was one of his poorest two quarters of the season.

With that said, the bright side was Denver only found themselves down five points. Oklahoma City held a 56-51 lead at the break, after being up by six points at the end of the first quarter.

Porter, who has an injured shoulder, was a pleasant surprise for the Nuggets scoring 15 points in the first half on 5-6 shooting. He made all three of his three-pointers.

Denver briefly took its first lead of the game at 39-38 with 8:07 to go in the second quarter, but the Thunder got too many easy buckets on the other end. They had nine offensive rebounds at the half, while the Nuggets had zero

Still, in the end, Denver proved to be the more resilient team. Just like they did in Game 1.

Now, they can take a unfathomable 3-1 series lead over the Thunder on Sunday afternoon. OKC went 68-14 in the regular season, but is two wins away from a way too early exit.

The Nuggets hope to send them to that, while chasing a second title in three years.

Buckle up.

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