OK, let’s see what the Oklahoma City Thunder have.
After winning a franchise-best 68 games and earning the top seed in the Western Conference this season with a team built to reach the NBA Finals, the Thunder are on the brink of … elimination or a trip to the conference finals.
The Denver Nuggets forced a Game 7 with a 119-107 victory in Game 6 on Thursday in the conference semifinals. Game 7 is Sunday (3:30 p.m. ET, ABC).
It’s Thunder-Nuggets with pressure-filled stakes. A team on the rise vs. the 2023 NBA champions. MVP finalists Shai Gilgeous-Alexander vs. Nikola Jokic.
Denver is no stranger to Game 7s. The Nuggets won a Game 7 twice in the 2020 bubble, lost a Game 7 last season and won one in the first round this season against the Los Angeles Clippers.
Can they go on the road and get one? Home teams win Game 7 of a best-of-seven series 73.9% of the time (113-40). But in the past few seasons, it’s common for a road team to win Game 7. Golden State did it in the first round against Houston this season, and it happened twice in 2024, 2023, 2022 and 2021.
Here are the Game 6 winners and losers from the Oklahoma City Thunder-Denver Nuggets:
Thunder-Nuggets Game 6 winners
Jamal Murray
The Nuggets guard didn’t feel well when he went to bed Wednesday and woke up Thursday feeling worse. He informed the team, and medical personnel gave him fluids and medicine. Listed as questionable, Murray started and delivered a much-needed performance, scoring 11 of his 25 points in the first quarter. He also had eight rebounds and seven assists.
Murray comes to play in elimination games. In 12 such games, Murray averages 27.6 points, 5.3 rebounds and 5.3 assists and shoots 49.2% from the field and 40.5% on 3-pointers.
Nikola Jokic
The Thunder have made offense difficult for Jokic, the NBA’s offensive jedi. His scoring and assists are down in this series, but he still makes winning plays. He did that in Game 6 with 29 points, 14 rebounds, eight assists and two steals, and he was 10-for-12 on free throws. Jokic had 17 points in the second half when the Nuggets outscored the Thunder 61-46 – and 11 in the fourth quarter.
Julian Strawther
Entering Game 6, Strawther, a second-year reserve guard-forward, had played in just seven of Denver’s 12 playoff games. He was scoreless in three of those, had no more than three points in three other games and had nine points in one game.
Needing some offensive help with Russell Westbrook struggling, Nuggets interim coach David Adelman turned to Strawther, who scored a playoff-career high 15 points – all in the second half.
His points were necessary. He scored eight points during a 10-0 run in the third quarter helping Denver to a 90-80 lead, and he had seven points during a 14-7 run in the fourth that extended Denver’s lead to 109-93.
Christian Braun
Braun had a fantastic regular season, one that made him part of the Most Improved Player of the Year discussion though he wasn’t a finalist for the award. He doubled his scoring average from 7.3 points to 15.4 points per game. His shooting percentage from the field increased from 46% to 58% and his free throw percentage from 69.4% to 82.7%. He shot 39.7% on 3-pointers.
He scored a playoff career-high 23 points on 8-for-14 shooting and had 11 rebounds, five assists and three steals.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Gilgeous-Alexander had a game-high 32 points with six assists and was 11-for-16 from the field and 8-for-11 on free throws. He just didn’t have enough offensive help, especially in the second half.
Denver’s aggressiveness
The Nuggets outscored the Thunder 27-10 on free throws, and after Gilgeous-Alexander, just two other Thunder players attempted free throws. Six Nuggets went to the free throw line, making 84.4% to OKC’s 62.5%.
Thunder-Nuggets Game 6 losers
OKC’s second-half offense
The Thunder scored 46 points in the second half after putting up 61 in the first half. In the third and fourth quarters, they were 19-for-50 from the field and 4-for-23 on 3s – 2-for-12 from that range in the fourth quarter.
Jalen Williams’ shooting
Williams, an All-Star for the first time this season, had just six points on 3-for-16 shooting. He contributed in other ways (10 assists, seven rebounds, three steals), but the Thunder need his scoring. He was the team’s second-leading scorer this season at 21.6 points per game but in Oklahoma City’s past three games, he is just 10-for-43 from the field and 2-for-14 on 3s.
Thunder rebounding
Denver owned a 52-40 edge in rebounding, including a 41-33 advantage on defensive rebounds and 11-7 advantage on offensive rebounds. The Nuggets turned those offensive boards into 23 second-chance points while holding the Thunder to nine second-chance points.
Follow NBA reporter Jeff Zillgitt on social media @JeffZillgitt
