Denver Nuggets vs. Oklahoma City Thunder, game-4 - Second half analysis
Coming into Monday night, the Denver Nuggets needed to win game-4 against the Oklahoma City (OKC) Thunder, to keep the best of seven series alive. Having started
off brightly in the first quarter, where they took a 26-20 lead, the Nuggets let their guard down in the second period as the Thunder tied the score at 45.
Denver were in their zone in second half though. The team hustled and harried the opposition and although the Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook came into their own
in that half, the Bronchos succeeded in stifling the productivity of Oklahoma City’s supporting cast. Their maverick effort down the stretch propelled them to a 104-101 victory and now means that they can now live to fight another day.
Westbrook and Durant set the tone for OKC at the start of the third quarter, taking over the scoring and propelled them into the lead. However, the two pronged attack
of OKC was countered by some exhilarating teamwork by the Nuggets. Kenyon Martin, Nene, J.R Smith and Danilo Gallinari all got on the score sheet as the Nuggets displayed some offensive might of their own. The lead changed hands 7 times in the extremely fast
paced quarter, which ended at 71-69 in favour of the Nuggets.
Buoyed on by the third quarter momentum, Denver sprinted to a 9 point lead at the start of the 4th quarter. Although Durant and Westbrook tried hard, the
support from their teammates was missing. Consequently, Denver held on to the lead and secured a big win that restored some pride for the troubled franchise.
There bench came alive to provide valuable offense as J.R Smith and Raymond Felton scored valuable points in the crunch time. When Durant made seven consecutive points
to make it 87-89 with 4:30 to go, the fears of a late collapse again gripped the whole arena. The worries were allayed somewhat by Ty Lawson, who drove down the lane and scored a reverse lay up to give the Nuggets some much needed breathing space. Gallinari
hit a clutch fade away jumper on the very next possession, virtually securing the win. Thunder, refused to die down though and got into touching distance with a minute left in the game. However, they failed to take their chances as Raymond Felton drained his
free throws.
This was an important win for Denver, George Karl’s team have kept the series alive when most people had written them off. Whatever happens in Oklahoma, they will
go to the Thunder’s den full of belief.
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