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Much like last year's playoff series against the Dallas Mavericks, the Oklahoma City Thunder's offense fell apart in crunch time. Except this time, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander couldn't bail them out.
In the Thunder's 113-104 Game 3 overtime loss to the Denver Nuggets, they only scored 21 points in the final 17 minutes. They went scoreless for the final 1:11 in regulation. Only scored two points in OT. And only made two field goals in the final nine minutes.
Just an unacceptable level of NBA offense. After being one of the best offenses this season, the Thunder bogged down and saw little off-ball movement. Instead, it devolved into Gilgeous-Alexander trying to carry his team to the finish line with unreal shot-making that wasn't there.
Much like Game 1, this had a Thunder win written all over it. They won the possession battle and attempted 19 more shots than Denver. They led for most of the night. Jokic had one of his worst playoff performances ever. Instead, the Nuggets snatched a win from the jaws of defeat.
Sometimes that's how these playoff series play out. The Thunder have played like the better team for most of these first three games, but the Nuggets have done just enough to hang around and step up in the final moments. Meanwhile, OKC's lack of crunch-time experience has been exposed in front of the entire NBA world twice already.
According to Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault, these are the growing pains the second-youngest first seed has to go through to have playoff success. The title favorite now faces a 2-1 series deficit and must split with Denver to avoid a dreaded 3-1 hole.
“What I would say is we are in the process of becoming a great team. We’ve checked a lot of boxes in that process. And one thing that it takes to be a great team is you get taken to the limit in the playoffs. You’ve got a rise to the challenges that you're confronted with," Daigneault said. "This team's made a habit of doing that repeatedly. I have full confidence we'll continue to do that, but we have to embrace what this is. It's the playoffs.”
The Thunder must win Game 4. The playoff series is on the line. If they can't, there's a strong possibility the Nuggets cruise by pretty easily. But if they can, they get homecourt advantage back in a Round 2 matchup that likely goes to a Game 7.
This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Mark Daigneault says Thunder's NBA playoff adversity will grow team
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