OKC evens series with Nuggets at 2 apiece
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DENVER (AP) -- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 25 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder finally outplayed Denver in crunch time, beating the Nuggets 92-87 on Sunday to knot their second-round series at two games apiece.
The Thunder trailed 69-63 after three quarters and fell behind by eight when Peyton Watson started the fourth quarter by swishing a hook shot. But Oklahoma City used an 11-0 run fueled by reserves Cason Wallace, who had a pair of 3-pointers, and Aaron Wiggins, who added another, to take control.
Wallace’s second 3-pointer put Oklahoma City ahead for good at 75-73.
The Nuggets had outlasted the youngest team in the NBA with wins in Games 1 and 3, crediting their playoff experience and championship pedigree. And they looked poised to put the top-seeded team in the West on the cusp of elimination when Aaron Gordon’s turnaround jumper made it 73-66.
This time, however, it was the Thunder who came up big down the stretch and the Nuggets who fumbled away the chance to put OKC in a 3-1 hole.
Game 5 is Tuesday night back in Oklahoma City, where the Thunder had a 43-point blowout of the Nuggets in Game 2.
Nikola Jokic led Denver with 27 points and 13 rebounds. Christian Braun and Jamal Murray each had 17 points and Gordon scored 15. Michael Porter Jr. scored just three points after scoring 15 Friday night.
Wiggins and Wallace each added 11 points and Alex Caruso and Jalen Williams each scored 10. Williams was 2 for 13 from the floor after scoring 32 in Game 3.
The teams played a physical, overtime game Friday night, not leaving Ball Arena until the early morning hours on Saturday. And the early Mother’s Day start -- 1:30 p.m. local time -- led to some tired legs and a ton of errant shots.
Both teams went 3 for 22 from deep in the first half and they slumbered through a combined 25-point first quarter, which tied an NBA playoff record for fewest points in the opening quarter.
Oklahoma City was ahead 42-36 at the half.
Timberwolves 102, Warriors 97
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Even with Stephen Curry sidelined and Draymond Green in foul trouble, the Golden State Warriors were ahead by five points in the fourth quarter and felt they had every chance to grab a series lead against the Minnesota Timberwolves at home.
Until Anthony Edwards and Julius Randle took over for the Timberwolves in crunch time.
Edwards hit a baseline 3-pointer with 1:19 remaining and scored 36 points, Randle had 24 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds, and the Wolves beat the Warriors 102-97 on Saturday night for a 2-1 lead in their second-round playoff series.
Jimmy Butler had 33 points, seven assists and seven rebounds and Jonathan Kuminga scored 30 off the bench, but the Warriors still lacked the kind of rhythm they have with Curry on the floor.
"Obviously with Steph out there, he demands two to three bodies when he's out there on the floor," Butler said. "When he's not, there's no room for error. You can't make mistakes. You can't turn the ball over. You can't give back all of those things. And then you've got to take the right shots.”
Kuminga shot 11 for 18 as the Warriors again mixed and matched while playing without Curry as he nurses a strained left hamstring that he injured early in Game 1 on Tuesday.
Game 4 is Monday night at Chase Center.
Celtics 115, Knicks 93
NEW YORK (AP) -- The Celtics’ 3-point touch came back in Game 3, so the Knicks didn’t.
Jayson Tatum had 22 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, Payton Pritchard scored 23 points and Boston easily got its first win in the Eastern Conference semifinals by routing New York 115-93 on Saturday.
The Celtics went 20 for 40 from 3-point range after going just 25 for 100 in their two losses in Boston, when they blew 20-point leads in the second half of both games. The defending NBA champions went ahead by 31 in this one and there was never anything resembling a comeback for the Knicks.
"You’ve got to beat us four times. That's what it comes down to. Not twice, not once, not three," Celtics forward Jaylen Brown said. "You've got to win four games, so there's a lot of basketball to be played."
Tatum, an All-Star who shot just 12 for 42 overall in Boston, and Pritchard, the NBA Sixth Man of the Year, both made five 3s.
Brown scored 19 points and Derrick White had 17 for the Celtics, who will try to tie the series Monday night in Game 4 before returning to Boston for Game 5 on Wednesday.
Jalen Brunson scored 27 points and Karl-Anthony Towns had 21 points and 15 rebounds for the Knicks, who blew a 2-0 lead in this round last year and are still seeking their first conference finals appearance since 2000.
"I don't think we came with the mindset of being satisfied, but I think it was just subconsciously satisfied being up 2-0,” Brunson said. "Just not the way we need to approach the game."
Boston made more 3-pointers than any team in NBA history during the regular season, when it swept all four meetings against New York. But the Celtics were ice cold to open this series, starting with an NBA playoff-record 45 misses in Game 1.
They made their first four 3-point shots in a blistering start Saturday and never really slowed down. They finished 6 for 7 behind the arc en route to a 36-20 lead, their highest-scoring first quarter of the postseason, quickly taking the energy out of a crowd where some fans paid more than $600 per ticket to be in the arena with the celebrities for one of the biggest games the Knicks have played in the 2000s.