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. 

CARLSON: Nikola Jokic was off again in Game 4. This time, OKC Thunder didn’t squander opportunity.

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.” 

5 TAKEAWAYS: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, OKC Thunder are clutch to tie series vs Nuggets

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.

More: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander can smile after Thunder’s OT loss to Nuggets: ‘Series is not over’

Best-of-seven; Games 5-7 if necessary.

The organization is called Guns to Gardens, and the Denver chapter was created after the King Soopers shooting in Boulder back in 2021. Since then, they’ve disposed of hundreds of weapons, potentially saving hundreds of lives.

The group held an event Saturday at Most Precious Blood Catholic Church in Denver.

The volunteers run a well-organized drive-thru-style operation where people can hand over their guns, no questions asked. They watch as the guns are destroyed on-site by a saw.

“We take it to the saw station, where it’s destroyed, according to ATF legal guidelines,” said Michael Martin, the founder of RAWtools, the organization Guns to Gardens is under. “Then once it’s destroyed, the person turning it in there, they’re just off to the side in their car, they’re able to leave, and they get a gift card as a thank you.”

For retired schoolteacher Rita Niblack, every gun accepted is potentially a life saved. Now retired, she dedicates her time to making Denver safer.

“People bring firearms for different reasons, and one of them is- they have children in their home, and they no longer want these,” Niblack said. “We take firearms from people who say, ‘I have a family member with dementia, I don’t want this in my house anymore.’ We have had people who brought us a firearm that was used for suicide of a family member, and they want to see it cut up so that it can’t do harm to others.”

While volunteers pack up, the work is far from over for Martin. A seasoned blacksmith, he’ll later transform the guns into gardening tools or art.

“The idea of turning ‘swords to plowshares’ is what sparked a lot of this,” Martin said. “Turning it into something that’s going to cultivate life or bring joy to somebody’s life, like jewelry or something else, art is really meaningful. And everybody here today, we had over 50 volunteers that are a piece of that.”

Niblack wears a piece of that art around her neck. The heart, formed from a gun, sends an impactful message.

“I wear this because I want to remember how many hearts have been crushed by gun violence and keep them close to my heart as I do this work,” she said.

Martin estimates that there have been around 2,500 to 3,000 guns turned in within the Denver Metro area since they started these events back in 2021.

It was a heartbreaking Game 3 for Oklahoma City. Before the wounds could heal from its Game 1 blunder, the Thunder let another clutch-time game slip through their fingers.

A lot went wrong for the OKC Thunder. Not only just the final few minutes of the contest, but a plethora of mistakes to clean up that led to clutch time. The Thunder continued to miss free throws, still have not shot the ball well from 3-point land on the road in the playoffs and got out of sorts of offense in the second half.

“The game gets slower, execution matters more. In those moments when the game slows down, it
usually comes down to your best players making shots and making plays. I didn’t do a good enough job of that tonight and I think that’s the main reason for the outcome. I think it’s more so that than
anything, to be honest,” Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said postgame Friday.

Gilgeous-Alexander posted a pedestrian stat line of 18 points, 13 rebounds, seven assists, two steals and a turnover on 31% shooting from the floor, 1-for-6 from 3 and 3-for-5 from the charity stripe. It was only right that the face of the team took accountability for the game. While it is not all on Gilgeous-Alexander, a cleaner game from him leads to an OKC win.

It is important to remember, the entire team is still growing. Despite your familiarity with this bunch and the feeling that this has been years in the making –– This is just Gilgeous-Alexander’s second ever playoff run as the guy.

“A few of the shots felt good, more than a few, they didn’t go in, obviously. Ultimately, it felt like a lot of
settling for jump shots. I always say the consistency of jump shots always goes up and goes down. You may get hot tonight, some nights you miss. The most reliable thing is the paint and the rim. I don’t think I did a good enough job again of that late game. There are probably various reasons why. Myself and the rest of the team, we’ll figure out why for the next situation. I think I for sure could get better,” The Thunder Superstar said following Game 3.

Despite the tough loss, the cameras caught the soon-to-be-named MVP smiling as he jaunted off the court following the Thunder’s overtime loss. Predictably, this caused a stir across social media. Following the game, Gilgeous-Alexander was asked about cracking that smile.

“Some fans were taunting me. And I know how the game goes. I know how life is. It’s easy to talk when you’re up, and I don’t ever want to show them that I’m defeated or mad or anything like that. Nothing’s written. The series isn’t over,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “We have a lot to be optimistic about. I didn’t perform down the stretch but I have an opportunity the next game and the next game after that to make up for it.”

The Thunder’s three-time All-Star is right. There are plenty of things to be optimistic about. This was always going to be a war between these two squads, this scribe even picked the series to go the distance. Losses are part of that.

Oklahoma City has to respond in Game 4, with its backs against the wall, to even this series back up at two games apiece. A loss puts the Thunder down 3-1, an unlikely feat for a young team to be able to overcome.