The Oklahoma City Thunder will host the Denver Nuggets for Game 5 of their Round 2 NBA playoff series on Tuesday. The series is tied at 2-2. The Thunder survived a do-or-die situation when they escaped with a 92-87 Game 4 win over the Nuggets on Sunday.

Alexander hadn’t scored in the fourth quarter before driving for a layup that gave the Thunder a much-anticipated lead with 3 ½ minutes left. The OKC star poured it on from there as the Thunder rallied for a 112-105 win over Denver in Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals Tuesday night at the Paycom Center.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 31 points, and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Denver Nuggets 112-105 on Tuesday night to go up 3-2 in their Western Conference semifinal series. Oklahoma City overcame a 44-point, 15-rebound night from Denver’s Nikola Jokic. The Thunder can clinch the series on Thursday in Denver.

The NBA is down to four second-round playoff series, but two stick out for reasons other than the intriguing on-court matchups. There have been few complaints about the scheduling of the Indiana Pacers-Cleveland Cavaliers or New York Knicks-Boston Celtics series,

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) comes down with a rebound in front of Denver Nuggets' Russell Westbrook, left, in the first half of Game 1 of an NBA basketball second-round playoff series Monday,

The regular-season whistle disappears as the referees allow the players to decide the outcome of high-stakes games. That was best exemplified in the Oklahoma City Thunder's 92-87 Game 4 win over the Denver Nuggets.