DENVER — The Denver Nuggets aren’t going down at home.
Following consecutive late collapses in losses to Oklahoma City, the Nuggets closed strong Thursday night for a 119-107 Game 6 win over the Thunder. The win ties the Western Conference semifinal series at 3-3 and sends the series back to Oklahoma City for a winner-take-all Game 7 with a berth in the Western Conference finals at stake.
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Gassed and worn down by a deep and relentless Thunder roster, the Nuggets lost Games 4 and 5 after holding leads of at least eight points in the fourth quarter of each game. They entered the fourth quarter of Thursday’s game with a 90-82 advantage.
This time, they held on for the win as Denver didn’t have to lean almost strictly on Nikola Jokić down the stretch. Julian Strawther provided a big burst off the bench, and the Nuggets got a balanced effort from their starting unit, including a strong game from Jamal Murray, who was questionable with an undisclosed illness in the hour before tipoff.
Murray opened Denver’s scoring with a four-point play after being fouled on a 3-pointer and finished the first quarter with 11 points, quelling concerns that he wouldn’t be a factor in a closeout game for the Nuggets.
He finished as Denver’s second-leading scorer with 25 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists.
No 4th quarter collapse this time
Playing with a shallow bench, Nuggets coach David Adelman leaned on Jokić for the entire fourth quarter of Tuesday’s 112-105 loss as the three-time MVP was Denver’s only reliable source of offense. That wasn’t the case Thursday night.
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Jokić spent the first 4:07 of the fourth quarter resting on the bench as Adelman gambled that his supporting cast would fend Oklahoma City off. That supporting cast delivered. When Jokić returned to the game, Denver had extended its lead to 97-86.
The reward was a rested Jokić for the stretch run of the game, and the Thunder never challenged Denver’s lead again. A Ball Arena crowd that was previously anxious after watching Denver blow a 71-63 lead in Sunday’s Game 4 loss erupted.
Strawther provides bench support Denver desperately needs
The Nuggets built their third-quarter lead behind the efforts of an unlikely hero. The game was tied at 78-78 with 3:58 left in the quarter. But the Nuggets closed the quarter on a 12-4 run sparked by eight points from Strawther, whose 3-pointer with 1:37 left in the quarter was the first off the bench by the Nuggets.
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He hit another with 36.1 seconds remaining to extend Denver’s lead to 88-80.
Strawther remained in the game to start the fourth quarter and hit another big 3 down the stretch while playing high-leverage minutes. When the game was done, Strawther had tallied 15 points while shooting 4 of 8 from the field, including a 3-of-4 effort from long distance. It was the surge off the bench this Nuggets team has desperately sought late in this series.
The series now shifts back to Oklahoma City for Game 7 Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET. The winner will advance to face the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference finals.
Jason Owens
