Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, right, looks to pass the ball as Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray, left, defends in the first half of Game 4 in the Western Conference semifinals of the NBA basketball playoffs Sunday, May 11, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

DENVER (AP) — The Denver Nuggets and Oklahoma City Thunder couldn’t wake up their slumbering offenses in an early Game 4 tip on Sunday, resulting in a record-tying bad start to an NBA playoff game.

The teams combined for 25 points to open the game, matching the record for fewest in a first quarter in the shot clock era.

The score after 12 minutes of action: Thunder 17, Nuggets 8. The last time two teams combined for that low of score after the opening period in the postseason was April 21, 2002, when Detroit led Toronto 16-9.

Portland (14) and Utah (11) also combined for just 25 on May 20, 1999.

With so many misses, clanks and airballs, it looked straight out of a Sunday morning pickup game at the rec center. The Thunder and Nuggets combined for 8-for-44 shooting. That’s 18.2%.

It was even worse from farther out. Denver was 0 for 14 from 3-point range, while the Thunder were 1 of 11.

Things never got too much better. The combined shooting percentage of 33.5% in Oklahoma City’s 92-87 victory was the worst in a playoff game in 21 years. Detroit and Indiana combined to shoot 30.8% on May 21, 2004, a game the Pistons won 72-67.

Both coaches maintained before the game the early start — just after 1:30 p.m. local time — wouldn’t make much of a difference.

“It’s the same time for them. It’s the same rest for them,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “Neither team is at an advantage or disadvantage with that. We really don’t think about it. It’s an equal playing field today for both teams.”

Both teams combined for more turnovers (9) than made baskets (8) in the first quarter. There were so many misses that Nikola Jokic had six rebounds in the opening frame, while Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Chet Holmgren each had five.

The only game in NBA history with fewer points in a first quarter was March 31, 1954, when Syracuse led Minneapolis 13-10 after the opening period of that season’s NBA Finals.

The NBA voted to adopt a shot clock about three weeks later, and it was utilized in the league for the first time in the 1954-55 season.