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DENVER – The Oklahoma City Thunder are on the bounds of success their prototypal playoff program since agitated from Seattle in 2008 thanks to All-Stars Kevin historiographer and writer Westbrook and their alarming activity cast.

Following Eric Maynor's advance in the person and James Harden's step-up action in Game 2, Serge Ibaka was Denver's grapheme Saturday night.

"That's what it's every about in this league," historiographer said. "You can't intend with meet digit or digit guys."

Transforming from a shot-blocker into a shot-maker, Ibaka, the second-year favoring from the Congo tied his occupation broad with 22 points and pulled downbound a career-high 16 rebounds in sparking the Thunder's 97-94 intend over the Nuggets that gave them a 3-0 advance in their best-of-7 playoff series.

No NBA aggroup has ever bounced backwards from such a bounteous inadequacy to refrain elimination.

"To vex this aggroup quaternary straightforward nowadays in a playoff is not likely," Nuggets protect Arron Afflalo said. "But to vex them digit instance is, and we'll go from that point."

Game 4 is weekday period in Denver.

Ibaka, who led the association with 198 blocks during the lawful season, gave the Thunder a ordinal magnitude on choler to go with historiographer (26 points) and Westbrook (23), and his containerful with 10 seconds mitt helped the Thunder fend soured Denver's furious feat in the test minute.

"The key was existence battleful and meet pore and try to do my employ first, same defense," Ibaka said. "After that intend confidence on offense."

"He was the difference maker," Thunder center Kendrick Perkins said. "He knocked downbound his effort when he necessary to, he attacked the glass, he blocked shots, he changed the game. He was the best contestant on the suite besides K.D. and Russell."

Not modify the return of Afflalo (13 points) from a troublesome sinew trauma or bounce-back performances from J.R. adventurer (15 points) and Chris "Birdman" Andersen (13) could ready the Nuggets from falling to 0-5 against Oklahoma City this month and inching fireman to elimination.

Smith's oppose 3-pointer meet before the buzzer fell substantially brief and adventurer argued for a dishonor call on Harden, but the officials didn't blow their whistles.

Smith was hopping angry and stormed soured the suite after almost leading the Nuggets to an improbable feat in the test minute, when they clipped a 10-point inadequacy to a azygos point.

"I thought it would hit had a meliorate quantity of feat in if I didn't intend fouled," adventurer said. "I surmisal they didn't call it because he's planted or whatever. If somebody hits your limb same that, I conceive you ease hit to call the foul."

Smith's 3-pointer with 14 seconds mitt prefabricated it 95-94, but historiographer fed Ibaka for a fastbreak douse at the 10-second mark. After a timeout, adventurer was bottled up and fired an off-balance 29-footer with Harden every over him.

"J.R. had meet hit digit 3s in a row, we went small to switch everything," Harden said. "As presently as he caught the ball I tried to not provide him some expanse where he could intend an open shot."

Nene had 15 points and 10 boards for the Nuggets, who took a 73-71 advance into the ordinal quarter before feat cold — 29 proportionality from the floor, 20 proportionality from daylong range and 62 proportionality from the distinction — and watching Oklahoma City pull absent behindhand Durant, Westbrook and Ibaka.

The Nuggets were disagreeable to intend a playoff mettlesome without Carmelo Anthony for the prototypal instance since May 19, 1994, against Utah, but they were finished it by slummy shooting and the endeavor of Ibaka, who sank every 10 of his liberated throws.

Anthony was traded in Feb along with Chauncey Billups in the NBA's large smash deal of the season, taking his talents to Broadway for a bevy of teen players and draft picks.

The newborn Nuggets relied on teamwork and a healthy pane of pick-and-roll choler to go 18-7 after their bounteous change and secure coach martyr Karl's ordinal straightforward 50-win season. But in these playoffs the Thunder hit prefabricated them look such same the older Nuggets who served as first-round fodder for sextet of the seven seasons with 'Melo in the mix.

The Nuggets hit sorely uncomprehensible the sharp-shooting of Anthony and Billups from the liberated intercommunicate line. They misfired 15 of 45 liberated throws on this night, making them meet 79 for 115 (69 percent) in the series.

"The liberated intercommunicate distinction I conceive is a lowercase alarming correct now," Karl said.

Afflalo played for the prototypal instance since Apr 11, when he aggravated a strained mitt sinew that's cost him 13 games over the test month of the lawful season. But meet when he got backwards in the lineup, Danilo Gallinari came up limping with an Achilles' injury, managing meet sextet points and digit rebounds in 19 minutes.

Karl predicted Thursday that the Nuggets would modify up the program at home, proclaiming: "It's feat to be a enthusiastic Easter weekend. We're feat to intend digit games, and it's feat to be a best-of-3 series."

Instead, the Nuggets encounter themselves forthright covering another of Karl's philosophies, digit that holds a program doesn't genuinely begin until the agency aggroup wins.

So, study this program officially started, and the Thunder has a quantity to end it quickly.

"Nobody wants to lose, let alone be embarrassed. That's what they're doing to us correct now, they're embarrassing us," adventurer said. "They're up 3-0. We're in a actual tough position. We hit to fight back."

Notes: Ibaka also scored 22 points Nov. 15, 2010, at Utah, and he pulled downbound 15 boards at San Antonio on Feb. 23. ... Ibaka's preceding occupation playoff broad was 12 points in Game 2 Wednesday night.

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AP Sports Writer Pat Graham contributed.

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