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.