The Thunder newbie will see a big jump in his salary next season, from $9.8 million to $18.1, but if he walked into Sam Presti’s office and demanded an advance on that raise, the Thunder brass would be hard-pressed to say no.

The Thunder’s ability to rally late, including their 112-105 home win in Game 5, have given them a 3-2 lead. Read more at straitstimes.com. Read more at straitstimes.com.

Denver was last in the league in 3-point attempts per game during the regular season (31.9), but that number has jumped to 38.5 3PA in the four contests against OKC. In their first-round series versus the LA Clippers, the Nuggets fired up an average of just 29.0 3PA across seven games.

The Oklahoma City Thunder are heavy favorites to to win Game 5 on Tuesday night and go up 3-2 on the Nuggets in the Western Conference Semifinals.

Denver can swing a trade similar to last year's between the San Antonio Spurs and Minnesota Timberwolves, in which San Antonio sent the No. 8 pick to Minnesota for a lightly protected first-round swap six years down the road and an unprotected swap in seven.

On the surface, the deal is explosive. Denver would be acquiring Zach LaVine, a dynamic scoring guard who, despite his injury history and defensive limitations, remains one of the NBA’s most efficient high-volume shooters.