DENVER — Rejecting Isaiah Hartenstein’s screen, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander sliced through multiple Denver defenders to go through the open lane to the basket as Nikola Jokic was left confused. Looking for a heroic jumper, the MVP candidate went back to old reliable in the final minutes.

The Oklahoma City Thunder survived long enough to get a 92-87 Game 4 win over the Denver Nuggets. It was an ugly contest in which both teams resembled early 2000s bask etball. Buckets were difficult to come by. The Round 2 series is now tied at 2-2.

“Yeah, great first quarter defense from both teams, obviously the shooting was cold for both teams. I thought we were really on it,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said. “We kinda lost our way defensively, especially in the third, but did a great job of course-correcting to start the fourth. That group to start the fourth was huge to give us a lead. The defense down the stretch was really, really good.”

The beginnings of this game were bad. Historically bad. Whether from nervousness or fatigue, the Thunder and Nuggets exchanged clanks to start. OKC built a 17-8 lead after the first quarter as Gilgeous-Alexander matched Denver’s point total by himself.

Yes, you read that right. 17-8. Never seen that happen before in the opening quarter of an NBA game. I doubt anybody else has either. As Denver shot 2-of-22 to start, it felt like the Thunder were letting another golden opportunity to build a cushion slip through their fingers.

Both teams got back into a flow in the second quarter. The Nuggets outscored the Thunder 28-25 in the frame, closer to the modern NBA. As Denver took 20 free-throw attempts to make up for its lack of buckets, OKC left plenty of meat on the bone. It only had a 42-36 halftime lead that should’ve been more.

Like in Games 1 and 3, the Thunder finally saw their hand get burned after playing with fire. The Nuggets got back into a groove. After the break, they scored 33 points in the third frame. A 16-3 Denver run flipped the scoreboard as OKC couldn’t hold onto its lead.

Fittingly enough, Aaron Gordon was left wide open to nail an outside shot to give Denver its first lead. He had enough time to take a dribble before he made the bucket to give the Nuggets a 53-52 advantage. We had a brand-new ball game with most of the second half left.

The Nuggets held a 69-63 lead after the third quarter. The Thunder looked shell-shocked. Everybody on NBA Twitter was ready to write them off as it looked like they were on the verge of one of the biggest collapses in league history.

But the Thunder kept their composure. As every starter besides Gilgeous-Alexander struggled, the bench unit led the comeback and calmed everybody down. Alex Caruso, Cason Wallace and Aaron Wiggins accompanied Jalen Williams to start the fourth quarter.

It was an important stretch. They needed a fast start or risk being buried on the scoreboard with limited time. They answered the call. It took OKC less than four minutes to retake the lead as it went on a 12-4 run. Wallace knocked down a 3-pointer to make it a 75-73 contest.

With their playoff hopes on the line, Daigneault stuck with Caruso over Lu Dort in the fourth quarter. The latter continued his shooting woes as Denver dared him to beat it from the outside. The Thunder couldn’t afford playing at a disadvantage in the halfcourt. The gutsy decision paid off as the Thunder’s bench resurrected OKC in the final frame.

“They were huge. They made huge shots, and they gave us huge defense and toughness plays in that stretch of the game, big time. We played a lot of minutes the other night, our top guys played a lot of minutes the other night in the overtime game,” Daigneault said on Caruso- Wallace-Wiggins. “Quick turnaround with the early game today, we made a very intentional effort to use our depth today and get everybody going.”

From then on, the Nuggets and Thunder returned to exchanging misses. As they had at the beginning of the game. That was until Williams and Gilgeous-Alexander scored on two straight possessions to give OKC an 88-81 lead with 2:22 left.

Missed free-throw attempts hurt the Nuggets down the stretch. Jokic couldn’t take over. Meanwhile, the Thunder redeemed their late misses from Game 1 and kept a healthy distance on the scoreboard for the rest of the game with their made free-throw attempts. They had a decisive 29-18 fourth-quarter run to seal the season-saving victory. It wasn’t the sexiest way to do it, but you never apologize for playoff wins. OKC did enough to win its most important game of the season and make it a 2-2 series.

The Thunder shot 36% from the field and went 10-of-41 (24.4%) from 3. They shot 20-of-26 on free throws. They had 20 assists on 31 baskets. Five Thunder players scored double-digit points. Gilgeous-Alexander bounced back with 25 points. Williams had 10 points on 2-of-13 shooting. Caruso scored 10 points while Wallace and Wiggins each scored 11 points to contribute off the bench.

Meanwhile, the Nuggets shot 31% from the field and went 11-of-45 (24.4%) from 3. They shot 26-of-36 on free throws. They had 17 assists on 25 baskets. Four Nuggets players scored double-digit points.

Jokic struggled again with just 27 points on 7-of-22 shooting, 13 rebounds and three assists. Jamal Murray and Christian Braun each had 17 points. Gordon tallied 15 points and 16 rebounds.

Be wary all you want about the Thunder’s offense, but they did enough to secure a mustwin game. These types of gritty wins are what the NBA playoffs are about. The scoring goes down while the physicality goes up. OKC did its job in its three-day Denver stay by splitting these two games and regaining homecourt advantage.

“Every game is different. You have to play the game as it comes and learn from every experience. The one thing I will say is competition is about throwing punches and competition is about taking punches,” Daigneault said. “Every time you take punches and you get back up, you get stronger. That’s what we’re preaching to our team. We lost a tough one in overtime, stood back up today, especially at the start of the game. I really loved the approach to start the game.”

Just like that, the Thunder’s playoff hopes remain alive. This comes after the fanbase spent most of the weekend ready to see one of the greatest all-time collapses as the historic firstseed looked to be on the verge of another Round 2 exit. The whiplash of raw emotions makes this time of year so fun.

After being criticized for his subpar final Game 3 moments, Shai did enough to fight through the nerves and hostile Denver crowd to secure a much-needed win.

Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 25 points on 8-of-19 shooting, six assists and six rebounds. He shot 0-of-5 from 3 and went 9-of-12 on free throws. He also had two steals.

With everybody else struggling, Gilgeous-Alexander was OKC’s sole source of scores. The jumper didn’t fall, but driving to the basket helped him earn points the blue-collar way. It was a busy night for him at the free-throw line as Denver couldn’t contain the MVP candidate.

“It’s a series to four and it’s 2-2 right now. We’re not drawing any conclusions. But you have to all the experiences that happen in the playoffs. There’s a reason everybody loves the playoffs,” Daigneault said. “It’s really chall enging and you have to be able to rise to different chall enges. You got to rise through the discomfort of the playoffs.”

The Thunder are back at home tonight for game five. The tipoff is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. Game six will also be played at home but the tipoff time has not been scheduled yet.

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