DENVER: The Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Denver Nuggets at their own game Sunday. The NBA’s youngest team made all the clutch plays in crunch time against an experienced squad teeming with a championship pedigree, knotting the second-round series with a 92-87 win in Game 4. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored nine of his 25 points in the fourth quarter, pulling the top-seeded Thunder from the brink of a 3-1 deficit against a Denver team known for closing out games while winning six of its last seven playoff series — and the two tight games earlier in this series that resumes Tuesday night in Oklahoma City. About 36 hours after an exhausting overtime Game 3 Friday night, the early Mother’s Day tip-off produced an ugly first half that featured a combined 25 points in the first quarter and ended with OKC up 42-36 at the break. “Quick turnaround with an early game today, we made an intentional effort to use our depth today and get everybody going,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. Down by eight points early in the fourth quarter, the Thunder used an 11-0 run fueled by reserves Cason Wallace, who had a pair of 3-pointers, and Aaron Wiggins, who added another, to wrest control. Wallace’s second 3-pointer put Oklahoma City ahead for good at 75-73. “I really thought the difference in the game was their bench kind of lit a fuse for them,” Nuggets interim coach David Adelman said. “They made 3s ...
