Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Denver Nuggets - Game 3 Preview
The Oklahoma City (OKC) Thunder will take on the sliding Denver Nuggets in Game 3 of the seven matchup series on Saturday night at Pepsi Centre. So far, Oklahoma City is leading the National Basketball Association (NBA) playoff
series, 2-0.
The story wasn’t much different when the two teams played against each other in the regular-season. The fourth seeded Thunder dominated the fifth ranked Nuggets 3-1 in that four game series. The Thunders finished the regular season
with 55 victories and 27 losses, while the Nuggets ended up with 50 wins and 32 defeats.
The Thunders had the home court advantage in the first two games and they made it count with a 107-103 victory on Sunday and a comprehensive 106-89 win on Wednesday at Oklahoma City Arena. Kevin Durant, OKC’s ace player, played
like a true champion and fired on all cylinders when it really mattered. The All-Star led the Thunder attack in both games and kept the Nuggets under pressure with his ferocious assault.
In game-1, Durant erupted with 41 points and nine rebounds. However, the night was marred by a controversy when Kendrick Perkins hit a tip-shot that put Oklahoma City in lead (101-102), with just 1:05 to go. Replays showed that
Perkins was guilty of goal-tending, however the game officials ruled otherwise. The incident took the steam out of the Nuggets and the Thunder overcame them with a 107-103 victory.
Besides Durant, Russell Westbrook made a handy contribution and added 31 points for the Thunder. The Nuggets failed to restrict the All-Star duo (Durant and Westbrook), as they combined for 72 points. Nene Hilario led the Nuggets
with 22 points and eight rebounds.
Perkins spoke about the controversial tip-shot after the game, he said, "There's a lot of calls that would have probably got questioned tonight, so it ain't just that one. So, we're going to keep playing. It happens. The game,
that's how it is.
"At the end of the day, we've just got to move on."
But Nuggets Coach George Karl was adamant. He said, "The ball doesn't get outside the cylinder," Karl said. "It's not even outside the cylinder. So, how can't you see that?
"But that's part of the NBA."
In Game 2, the Thunder proved that they had more to offer than just Durant and Westbrook. OKC got plenty of help from the fringe players and built a strong first-half lead. They never looked back and went on to defeat the Nuggets
106-89. The Thunder led the Nuggets in the entire game. Denver never came closer than 10 points and that too in the final quarter, before Oklahoma City sealed the game.
Durant scored 23 points along with five rebounds and five assists, while Westbrook made 21 points. The Thunder went 26 points up early in the second quarter as everybody chipped in to propel them and from there on the Nuggets started
fading away. Oklahoma’s bench tallied 37 points in the game.
Ty Lawson was the major contributor for the Nuggets, he counted 20 points together with four rebounds and three assists.
Denver coach George Karl said, "We gave them too many minutes, too many possessions of they were totally in control. They were energized, they were more physical, they were quicker, probably smarter. ... The hole was just too big.
When it looked like we could get it under 10, a 3-ball would go in or an offensive rebound would break our heart."
The series is now shifting to Denver and it’ll be interesting to see how the Nuggets will play at home, especially at this crucial stage when they definitely need to win the next two games in order to tie the series. However considering
the recent form of OKC in general and Durant and Westbrook in particular, the Nuggets are facing a very daunting prospect on Saturday.
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