Aaron Gordon comes through in the clutch again. With less than 30 seconds left in regulation, Gordon hit a crucial 3 to tie the Denver Nuggets with the Oklahoma Thunder and send Game 3 into overtime, where Denver took a 113-104 lead for the win. Coming off a massive loss Wednesday, the close, physical win Friday night gave the Nuggets a 2-1 series lead over the Thunder in the conference semifinals.
Advertisement
In Indianapolis, the Cleveland Cavaliers secured their first win against the Indiana Pacers, going 126-104 off a 43-point game from Donovan Mitchell and cutting Indiana’s series lead down to 2-1.
The Thunder’s defense held Nikola Jokić to 20 points with eight turnovers, while Jamal Murray led the way for Denver with 27 points, eight assists and four rebounds.
While Mitchell led Cleveland’s charge, he and the Cavaliers were boosted by the return of three key players, including starters Darius Garland and Evan Mobley. Garland ran into foul trouble in the first half but still scored 10 points, while Mobley added 18 to go along with his 13 rebounds, four assists, three steals and three blocks.
Indiana rallied from a slow start and briefly took the lead in the second quarter. However, star Tyrese Haliburton, who hit the game-winning 3 in the series’ second matchup up struggled and finished with just four points in the loss.
Nuggets 113, Thunder 104
(Nuggets lead series 2-1)
Nuggets know how to close
Denver isn’t the deeper team in this series. You can certainly argue they aren’t the more talented team in this series. But these Nuggets have a championship mettle that’s been plainly evident in the three games of this series. The Nuggets simply know what to do down the stretch of games, and the Thunder have struggled in the two close games of the series.
The Nuggets began overtime with a 7-0 run, a surge that Oklahoma City wouldn’t recover from. Denver’s offense will always go to its two-man game of Murray and Jokić in the last five minutes. In contrast, Oklahoma City didn’t run good offense in either the closing minutes of regulation or in overtime. It’s the reason the Nuggets have a 2-1 lead in this series, and are two wins away from a significant second-round upset. — Tony Jones, staff writer
Lu Dort struggles on offense
For all intents and purposes, Lu Dort, whose primary job in this series is to hound Jamal Murray for 48 minutes, is doing a solid job defensively. Murray finished the evening with 27 points on 19 shots (9 made field goals), but the bulk of his scoring came away from Dort, either when he was off the floor, switched off or at the free throw line. On a night where Jokić was also held to a rare low-efficiency night, Dort’s attempts in delaying Murray’s inevitable scoring bunches were admirable.
Advertisement
But at the other end, Dort’s floor spacing efficiency has plummeted during these playoffs, which hurts the Thunder tremendously. Dort finished with just 3 points, missing all four of his 3s. Prior to tonight, Dort was shooting 29.3 percent from 3 in the postseason, after finishing the regular season remarkably better (41.2 percent on 5.8 attempts per game).
At times, Dort looked like a man devoid of confidence in his offensive game, passing up decent looks from the perimeter and missing simple shots around the rim. The Thunder have taken offensive pride in giving up good shots for great ones, but by the metrics, Oklahoma City has actually been a better defensive team when Dort has been on the bench.
Because of his offensive struggles, Dort was glued to the bench for a critical first half of the fourth, with Alex Caruso getting his minutes. Dort would eventually foul out of the game with 36 seconds remaining in overtime, with the game already decided. He’s likely headed for an All-Defensive team this season, but he’ll need to snap out of his slump at the other end of the floor, quickly. If not, the Thunder’s season might be over prematurely. — Kelly Iko, staff writer
Cavaliers 126, Pacers 104
(Pacers lead series 2-1)
A complete win
No wild comebacks and no stars missing in action.
Just a complete, gutsy win by the Cavs, who desperately needed one.
As The Athletic reported Thursday, Garland (sprained big toe), Mobley (sprained ankle), and De’Andre Hunter (sprained thumb) all gave it a go for Game 3. The individual results were mixed but having them out there collectively seemed to bring together a team that had been such a cohesive group all season and was just beginning to show a few cracks after two tough losses and questions about their absences.
Mobley played like the NBA Defensive Player of the Year and likely an All-NBA selection. The leaping ability, presence in the paint, scoring, and ability to run the floor were all there from Mobley, who showed virtually no effects from the injury he suffered stepping on Myles Turner’s foot in Game 1.
Advertisement
Garland shot 3-of-11 and committed four fouls in the first half. He finished with 10 points, appeared to re-injure himself in the third quarter but returned to the game and committed four turnovers. He also hadn’t played in more than two weeks and his presence was felt as a ball handler who could handle the Pacers’ pressure.
Hunter shot 2-of-6 for eight points in 20 minutes. His thumb is still swollen but, without asking him, it’s hard to tell if he was truly bothered by the injury. The bigger story, as far as Hunter is concerned, is that as a bench player, he’s part of a reserve unit that’s getting outplayed by the Pacers. Bennedict Mathurin gave Indiana 23 points off the bench and T.J. McConnell added 12 points. Ty Jerome is still struggling mightily for Cleveland, and Kenny Atkinson carved off some of Jerome’s usual minutes and gave them to Sam Merrill.
Otherwise, the Pacers cut a huge deficit to 11 points in the fourth quarter before Mitchell ended their momentum. Mitchell scored 14 in the fourth quarter and the collapse this team suffered in Game 2 never materialized.
The Cavs also broke out a 3-2 zone that seemed to frustrate the Pacers to no end — a solid game-to-game adjustment for Atkinson. — Joe Vardon, senior writer
Beaten on the glass again
After the second game of the series, the Pacers mentioned their need to improve on the glass. In Game 1, they finished with seven total offensive rebounds and in Game 2, there was a slight improvement to 11. But on Friday night, they got killed, once again, on the offensive glass. In the first half, they had two offensive rebounds with four second-chance points, while Cleveland had 13 offensive rebounds and 21 second-chance points. In the second half, they only added two offensive rebounds and finished with four total (nine second-chance points). While not the entire difference, it’s certainly still a pain point for Indiana, who need all the scoring chances and stops it can get.
The Pacers also struggled from beyond the arc. In the first half, they shot 27.8 percent (5-of-18) from 3 and at one point missed 13 straight 3-pointers, including the last 11 of the first half and first two of the second. The second half wasn’t much better. Indiana only made three out of eight 3-point attempts in the third quarter, and finished with nine made 3-point attempts out of 30 chances. — Shakeia Taylor, staff writer
Struggling star
Three days after drilling the game-winning 3-pointer that gave the Pacers a 2-0 lead in their second-round series against the Cavs, Haliburton struggled mightily Friday night. Indiana’s star point guard finished with a playoff career-low four points, marking just the third time he’s scored less than 10 points in the postseason. He shot just 2-for-8 from the field (25 percent), which was the second-lowest mark of his postseason career, and only dished out five assists.
Advertisement
Haliburton landed awkwardly on his left wrist in Game 2, got an X-Ray mid-game and returned to the court with his wrist heavily taped before drilling the game-winner. He insisted that he was “fine” at practice Thursday, but his wrist was taped again Friday and that may have contributed to his quiet night.
Friday’s defeat also marked the first time the Pacers lost a home playoff game in which Haliburton played. Indiana was previously 9-0 with Haliburton in the lineup, with its only home playoff losses over the last two years coming in last season’s Eastern Conference Finals matchup against the Celtics. Boston swept Indiana, but Haliburton was sidelined for the last two games at Gainbridge Fieldhouse due to a hamstring injury. Pacers PR did not make Haliburton available to the media after Friday’s 22-point loss. — James Boyd, staff writer
(Photo: Ron Chenoy / Imagn Images)
