OKLAHOMA CITY — After Nikola Jokic sagged off him from the perimeter, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was more than happy to oblige. The pull-up 3-pointer swished in and served as the dagger. The MVP finalist could finally let out a sigh of relief as he saw one from deep finally drop in.

The Oklahoma City Thunder did enough to survive another thriller against the Denver Nuggets. A 112-105 Game 5 put them in the driver’s seat in their Round 2 playoff series with a 3-2 lead.

“Great job hanging in there first of all. We didn’t play great. We were a little sloppy in the first half on both ends of the floor,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said. “That was just as loose as we’ve been defensively since Game 1 or maybe worse than Game 1. I’ll have to watch it. To hang in there the way we did and get back on track was impressive.”

We’re watching the Thunder grow up in front of our eyes. After heartbreakers in Games 1 and 3, the Thunder have learned from their clutch-time shortcomings to win two straight nail-biters. From the jump, this looked like another game that would come down to the final possessions.

The Thunder got off to a rocking start with a 12-2 lead. But the Nuggets quickly shook that off. They finished the first quarter strong and held a 28-27 lead. That score was duplicated in the second frame. Considering how out of synch they looked, OKC was lucky to only be down 56-54 at halftime.

The offense hummed along for the Thunder. But the problem was on the other end — for the first time this series, too. The Nuggets sliced through OKC’s paint defense. Jokic snapped out of a threegame funk and looked like the three-time MVP he is.

As the Nuggets scored 30 points in the third quarter, it looked like the Thunder were on the verge of a consequential loss. Denver dominated on the boards and created plenty of second- chance looks. That was the difference on the scoreboard as OKC exited the third frame in an 86-78 hole.

Everything looked dire for the Thunder. They were close to a disastrous Game 5 loss that flipped the series in Denver’s favor. But like Game 4, OKC had a strong finish to overcome a double-digit deficit. Unlike Game 4, though, the bench lineup couldn’t bail them out this time.

Instead, it was Lu Dort — whom everybody was ready to light their torches and sharpen their pitchforks to go against. It’s been a bad playoff series for the longtime OKC starter. The Nuggets have conceded his outside looks and haven’t fallen at the clip we saw in the regular season.

It got to the point that Thunder fans were ready to see Daigneault pull Dort off the floor for good. Instead, he trusted his defensive staple and encouraged him to continue to take open looks. The bet paid off. Back-to-back 3-pointers made it a 92-87 deficit with under eight minutes left.

The Thunder had plenty of time to turn it into another high-leverage situation. Dort made another 3-pointer to make it a 92-90 game. Williams tied it up at 92 points apiece at the free-throw line. With five minutes left, both teams saw-sawed the lead a bit before OKC pulled away.

Jokic’s circus turnaround 3-pointer couldn’t even be celebrated. The Thunder found an open Williams for the 3-pointer to give OKC a 106-103 lead with 1:19 left. Gilgeous-Alexander then hit the dagger step back 3-pointer on the next possession.

The Thunder once again came up big in the fourth quarter with a 34-19 scoring advantage. Oh, how the tables have turned. The veteran squad that won a championship a couple of years ago looked like an inexperienced young team in the final moments.

The Thunder shot 50% from the field and went 12-of-29 (41.4%) from 3. They shot 18-of-23 on free throws. They had 23 assists on 41 baskets. Six Thunder players scored double-digit points.

Gilgeous-Alexander finished with an efficient 31 points. Williams had 18 points and nine rebounds. Chet Holmgren tallied 14 points and eight rebounds. Dort scored 12 important points. Isaiah Hartenstein tallied 15 points and seven rebounds. Alex Caruso finished with 13 points and four rebounds.

Meanwhile, the Nuggets shot 41% from the field and went 13-of-46 (28.3%) from 3. They shot 12-of-13 on free throws. They had 20 assists on 40 baskets. Three Nuggets players scored double-digit points.

Jokic was a monster with 44 points on 17-of-25 shooting and 15 rebounds. Jamal Murray broke out with 28 points on 10-of-27 shooting. Aaron Gordon looked human with 13 points and five rebounds.

Talk about an NBA playoff win. The Thunder have quickly learned how to win these close contests. In the season’s biggest game, Gilgeous-Alexander stepped up as he went band-for-band against Jokic. The Thunder’s depth outweighed Denver’s in the final moments of another clutch win that’ll give most of OKC heart problems.

The Thunder now have an important 3-2 series lead. Two straight wins over the Nuggets put them ahead in this classic back-and-forth series with memorable finishes. The first seed will now have two chances to clinch the Round 2 series and move on to the Western Conference Finals. “I actually think we’re a better team today than we were at the beginning of the series. We’re definitely evolving and growing and learning despite the fact that we think we can play with anybody. We’ve had some success. That doesn’t stop us from growing,” Daingneault said. “This is a humble group of guys that stay grounded through the success and that’s allowed them to continue to improve.” Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 31 points on 12-of-23 shooting, seven assists and six rebounds. He shot 1-of-3 from 3 and went 6-of-6 on free throws. He also had two steals and two blocks.

It was ugly at the start. Gilgeous-Alexander only had 11 points at halftime. The Thunder were only down by two points, but it felt like 20. This was another game where the superbly efficient 30-point scorer couldn’t get it going at the biggest stage.

Dort finished with 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting, three re-bounds and one assist. All of his attempts were from the outside. Not the craziest box score, but it was about the timeliness of his buckets.

Being dared from the outside, Dort made backto- back-to-back 3-pointers. He bailed a Thunder offense that devoted to early 2000s basketball. The nine points made it a two-point contest with over six minutes left. The OKC crowd went from groaning on his wind-up to hoping the ball would sweep back his way for a heat check.

“I don’t bet against Lu. It’s that simple. There’s just a special thing about him,” Daigneault said. “He’s always gonna stand back up. He’s not perfect but he’s always gonna respond, compete and count on him to do that. I just don’t like betting against that guy.”

Williams finished with 18 points on 5-of-14 shooting, nine rebounds and four assists. He shot 2-of-5 from 3 and went 6-of-8 on free throws. He also had a steal.

This was about Williams’ start and end. He got off to a hot start with nine points in the first quarter to keep the Thunder afloat. In closing time, he had seven points as the Nuggets couldn’t stop hacking him on his drives to the basket. The Thunder will be at home again on Thursday the 15th. The game has a tip-off time of 7:30 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPN.

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