DENVER – Jamal Murray scored 27 points as the Denver Nuggets used their play-off experience to dominate overtime and beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 113-104 at home in Game 3 of the National Basketball Association (NBA) Western Conference semi-finals on May 9.

“I think late in the games, you can rely on what you’ve seen and felt and done,” Nuggets interim head coach David Adelman said about the team’s play-off experience. “You can feel a game that maybe you played a couple of years ago.”

Nikola Jokic missed all 10 of his three-point attempts and finished eight-for-25 from the field but ended the night with 20 points and 16 rebounds for the Nuggets, who lead the best-of-seven series 2-1.

Game 4 is on May 11 in Denver.

Aaron Gordon scored 22 points, including a tying bucket in the final minute of regulation, and Michael Porter Jr went five-for-six from deep and finished with 21 points for the Nuggets, who finished 39-for-85 from the field (45.9 per cent).

“We’ve been in this situation before, we stayed poised,” Porter said about Denver’s ability to win close games. “(Aaron Gordon) hit that big three to send it to overtime, like he’s done all play-offs. Huge win.”

Jalen Williams scored 32 points for Oklahoma City, who were one-for-seven from the field in overtime with two turnovers. Chet Holmgren had 18 points and 16 rebounds, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 18 points and 13 rebounds and Isaiah Hartenstein had 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Thunder, who were 40-for-104 (38.5 per cent) from the field.

“One thing that it takes to be a great team is you get taken to the limit in the play-offs, and you’ve got to rise to the challenges that you’re confronted with,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said.

“This team’s made a habit of doing that repeatedly. I have full confidence we’ll continue to do that, but we have to embrace what this is.”

Elsewhere, Donovan Mitchell scored 43 points to lead the Cleveland Cavaliers to a crucial 126-104 victory over the Indiana Pacers.

Cleveland, the top seeds in the East after racking up 64 regular-season wins, had their backs against the wall after dropping the first two games at home – the fact that no NBA team has rallied from 3-0 down to win a series making the May 9 game a must-win.

Mitchell, whose 48 points in Game 2 were not enough to ward off a furious Pacers comeback, was magnificent again, adding nine rebound...