DENVER (AP) — A sick Jamal Murray may have been questionable for Game 6, but in his mind there was nothing ambiguous about his playing status.
“Absolutely not,” Murray said when asked if there was any chance he'd have sat out the game.
Murray scored 25 points and powered the Denver Nuggets past the Thunder 119-107 Thursday night, sending the series back to Oklahoma City for a decisive Game 7.
After being sick for 24 hours, Murray ignited the Nuggets with a four-point play to start things off and sank a step-back 3-pointer to start the fourth quarter that pushed Denver's lead into double digits.
Nikola Jokic led Denver with 29 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists, and Christian Braun scored a career playoff-best 23 points. But it was second-year reserve guard Julian Strawther who ignited the Nuggets' runaway, scoring a career playoff-high 15 points, all 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.”
Strawther had a pair of 3s and a layup during the decisive 10-0 third-quarter spurt and he kept making big plays at both ends in the fourth quarter as the Nuggets finally had a laugher in this exhaustive, physical series.
Case in point: Strawther lost a crown in the fourth quarter. A ballboy retrieved the artificial tooth from the circle when the action went to the other end.
Gordon grabbed at his left hamstring late in the game and hobbled through the final few minutes, but he insisted he'd be fine for Game 7, which is Sunday, with the Minnesota Timberwolves awaiting the winner after dispatching Golden State in five games.
If he's good to go, that would be a huge relief for Denver interim coach David Adelman, who called Gordon “the reason why we've won games and won series and have a banner hanging up.”
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with 32 points, but he didn’t get enough help from his teammates to clinch Oklahoma City's first trip to the Western Conference Finals since 2016. All-Star Jalen Williams scored six points on 3-of-16 shooting.
The Nuggets, who won the title two years ago, finally get two days off after a grueling past few weeks. They have played every other day since April 29.
“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 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 iteration'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.”
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