All hands on deck. It is only fitting that this series/heavy weight fight is coming down to a winner-take-all Game 7. Basketball fans deserved it and needed it. The Nuggets vs. Thunder has been too competitive, too edge-of-your-seat, and just too exciting not to go a full seven games.
Game 7 takes place on Sunday afternoon at 3:00 ET because MVP candidate Nikola Jokic did not have to carry the entire load on his broad shoulders and got the help he lacked from his supporting cast in a Game 5 loss 48 hours earlier. Jamal Murray, playing through an illness that had him listed as doubtful earlier in the day, scored 25 points, while Christian Braun, who is a proven winner in college and in the pros, added a career playoff-high of 23 points and 12 boards, giving him a double-double.
Murray status may have been questionable for Game 6, but in his mind, there was nothing that was going to keep him from getting out on that court.
“Absolutely not,” Murray said when asked if there was any chance he would have sat out the game.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, his fellow countryman and Canadien National teammate, also had no doubt.
“Yeah, I knew he was going to play, obviously in a do-or-die situation for them,” SGA said. “And they came out with a sense of urgency and jumped on us right away.”
Embed from Getty ImagesThe game was knotted at 80-80 in the later stages of the third quarter when Denver went on a momentum-shifting 10-0 run and held on from there. The Nuggets won by 12, 119-107, to force a Game 7 on Sunday back in Oklahoma City.
This is the second straight series Denver will have gone to the max, seven games. The Nuggets comfortably beat the Los Angeles Clippers at home in the previous Game 7.
“We just keep finding a way,” Nuggets interim coach David Adelman said of forcing a second Game 7.
Who found a way was seldom used, second year forward Julian Strawther, who was the unsung hero. He energized and sparked the Nuggets’ third quarter avalanche and finished with a career playoff-high 15 points, all of them coming in the second half.
“Julian played huge for us, made real big shots,” Aaron Gordon said. “I don’t think that’s something that they game-planned for.”
Denver’s biggest concern out of the night was Gordon, who was seen clutching his hamstring at points in the fourth quarter and seemed somewhat hampered for that stretch. Gordon said postgame he was fine and that recovery for him started immediately.
The advantage they have is two days off in a series that has been every other day up until this point. The older, thinner Nuggets, in particular, were clearly thrilled about having a couple of days off to rest their bodies between games.
“The guys in there looked like they were happier to have tomorrow off than they were about going to a Game 7,” Adelman said.
The MVPs put on a show and did their part in this game, with Jokic scoring 29 points with 14 rebounds and eight assists. Gilgeous-Alexander scored a game-high 32 points, with 18 of those coming in the second half despite him having four fouls by halftime.
However, Gilgeous-Alexander did not get enough help from his crew. All-Star Jaylen Williams scored six points on 3-of-16 from the field. He has to be better on Sunday if the Thunder are going to advance to the Western Conference Finals. Chet Holmgren poured in 19.
The Thunder have only lost back-to-back games twice this season, once in November and once in early April. However, this will be the current squad’s first win-or-go-home game.
“First of all, credit Denver — they threw a punch tonight as has happened in the series, both teams are exchanging blows,”
Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “They got theirs in tonight, and both teams have done a great job of standing back up, including us, and we need to do that on Sunday.”
