Denver, CO
Give OKC Thunder bench —\u00a0Alex Caruso, Aaron Wiggins, Cason Wallace —\u00a0credit for Game 4 win
The Thunder’s Big Three came through.
Alex Caruso, Aaron Wiggins and Cason Wallace, that is.
Give each of them a game ball, because without the opportunistic play of the three benchmen, this is a 3-to-1, all-but-over series. Instead, it’s a 2-2 split heading back to Oklahoma City after the Thunder took Game 4 92-87 on Sunday afternoon in Denver.
In the five-point win, Wiggins was a team-best plus-14 in his 16 minutes. Caruso and Wallace, who played 28 and 23 minutes respectively, were both a plus-12. Those were the three best plus-minus marks for the Thunder. Single game plus-minuses can be deceptive, but nothing about those numbers was a fluke.
After an overtime period in Game 3 and a quick turnaround ahead of Game 4, “we made a very intentional effort to use our depth today and get everybody going,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said.
Aaron Wiggins saves basketball … playoff series for Thunder
OKC’s biggest advantage over Denver is its depth. On Sunday, the Thunder’s bench outscored the Nuggets’ bench 35-8.
In a game where 3-pointers were so precious, Caruso, Wiggins and Wallace accounted for eight of the Thunder’s 10 long-range makes. Combined, they shot 8 of 14 (57%) from 3.
The rest of their teammates were 2 of 27 (7%).
The triples from that bench trio were timely, too.
- Down six midway through the third quarter, Wiggins buries a 3, assisted by Wallace, to cut Denver’s lead in half.
- Down six later in the third quarter, Wallace makes a 3-pointer to cut Denver’s lead to three yet again. On OKC’s next possession, Wiggins drills another 3.
- Wallace, with 10:43 left in the game, hits a 3 to narrow Denver’s lead to four points. Wallace then hits his third 3 — on as many attempts — to give the Thunder a two-point lead with 8:35 to play.
Caruso’s 3-pointers (he was 2 of 5) came earlier in the game, but he was as clutch as could be in the fourth quarter. Doing classic Caruso things, like punching the ball out of Nikola Jokic’s hands for a Thunder rebound and junking up Denver’s offense by applying relentless pressure.
“They were huge,” Daigneault said of his bench. “They made huge shots and they gave us huge defense and toughness plays in that stretch of the game. Big, big time.”
Alex Caruso replaces Lu Dort for Thunder vs Nuggets down stretch
Caruso played all but seven seconds of the fourth quarter. Daigneault rode Caruso down the stretch in place of starter Lu Dort, who wasn’t used at all in the fourth quarter.
Caruso didn’t make a shot in the fourth quarter, but he was instrumental in the Thunder outscoring the Nuggets 29-18 in the final frame.
The story of Sunday was the Thunder overcoming its clutch-time terrors. But OKC would not have made it to clutch time if not for the timely baskets and tenacious defense of Caruso, Wiggins and Wallace in the critical moments to close the third quarter and open the fourth.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander brought the game home with nine points in the fourth and a team-high 25 overall, but he didn’t get much offensive help from his main sidekicks.
Jalen Williams played excellent defense but had to beg for a bucket. Same goes for Chet Holmgren. Combined, J-Dub and Chet shot 6 of 23, including 0 of 8 from 3-point range.
The Thunder had to rely on a different Big Three in Game 4. And because of them, the series is headed to Game 5 all knotted up.
Joe Mussatto is a sports columnist for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Joe? Email him at jmussatto@oklahoman.com. Support Joe’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.
Best-of-seven; Games 5-7 if necessary.
Denverites looking for a stellar cup of Joe don’t need to travel far to savor the flavor of excellent coffee.
That’s according to The World’s 100 Best Coffee Shops, a website that rates global hospitality establishments where coffee lovers can find better brew. The website recently announced its 2026 list of the best coffee shops in North America, Central America and the Caribbean and two local companies made the list.
Sweet Bloom Coffee Roasters came in at No. 43, while Queen City Collective Coffee ranked No. 61. Not bad for a list that includes must-hit destinations in places like Guatemala and Costa Rica, which are known for their exports of coffee beans.
The World’s 100 Best Coffee Shops decided the ranking through a mix of nominations and voting by both the public and experts. Places were evaluated based on the quality of coffee served, barista expertise, ambiance, sustainability practices, and innovation among other criteria, according to the website.
Sweet Bloom Coffee Roasters, which came on the scene in 2013, helped usher the so-called fourth wave of coffee locally, which focuses on honoring the beans’ agricultural roots and using techniques like pour-over to extract more flavor from each brew. The company started with a wholesale roastery and retail shop in Lakewood before expanding to Arvada through a merger with another company called Two Rivers, and later to Westminster. In 2022, Food and Wine magazine named Sweet Bloom’s Westminster locale the best coffee shop in Colorado.
Queen City Collective has certainly earned the popular vote among Mile High City coffee drinkers if the company’s expansion is an indication. Since opening its first retail location in 2018, in a spot shared with Novel Strand Brewing Co., Queen City has expanded to seven locations between Denver and surrounding suburbs, including Wheat Ridge and Aurora.
To see the full list of must-hit coffee shops across the globe, visit theworlds100bestcoffeeshops.com. For additional recommendations, check out our list of Colorado’s best coffee shops with picturesque patios and views.
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DENVER (KDVR) — With the mild winter and warm start to spring, beekeepers are seeing swarms earlier in the year and expect the season to be longer than usual.
Gregg McMahan is a dispatcher for the Colorado Swarm Hotline. It’s usually his job to send a beekeeper to collect a swarm when someone calls, but on Sunday afternoon, he decided to handle one himself.
“Nice little swarm,” McMahan said. “It’s tricky, though, because it’s hanging on a fence.”
A warm winter and spring mean swarm season has begun four weeks early.
“Never seen it like this ever,” McMahan said.
This call is to a house on Denver’s east side. When McMahan arrived, he saw a swarm had taken up residence on the fence.
“Absolutely typical, it is on the small side,” McMahan said.
He got to work, first luring them into a box when he spotted a good sign.
“See all these girls, they got their butts up, they’re fanning their wings. That’s telling us the queens in here,” McMahan said.
With the queen in hand, the rest began to follow her into the box.
McMahan said two years ago, he had 400 calls like this. Last year, only 100, the Swarm Hotline was as unpredictable as the weather, which has caused bee activity earlier in the year than ever.
“It makes it hard on the bees, you know? Two days ago, I’m collecting swarms in the snow,” McMahan said.
Rescuing them is integral to Colorado’s ecosystem. McMahan hopes people give a beekeeper a call instead of spraying them or harming them in any other way.
“They do a phenomenal amount of pollination within this state. Not only our native flowers but all the other flowers that people bring in,” McMahan said.
Slowly but surely, the swarm left the fence and moved into the box. McMahan loaded them into his truck to deliver them to their new home.
“Westminster to the Stanley Lake Wildlife Refuge, so these girls will have lakefront property tonight,” he said.
As he wrapped up, McMahan’s phone was buzzing more than the bees. Just another call to start a swarm season, he thinks, could be a long one.
“This year I’m already 20 swarms deep, so I’m expecting way more than 100 this year,” McMahan said.
To have a bee swarm removed for free from your property anywhere statewide, the Swarm Hotline number is 1-844-SPY-BEES.
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