DENVER (AP) — Jamal Murray didn’t quite guarantee a Game 7. He alluded to it, though, in between sips of his blueberry-colored postgame recovery smoothie.
“Very confident,” the Denver Nuggets guard said of a return to Oklahoma City.
Before then, there’s the matter of Game 6, which is Thursday night in Denver. For the Nuggets, there’s also the matter of finding a way to protect a fourth-quarter lead after the Thunder won the last two with late surges to take a 3-2 advantage in the second-round series.
The young Thunder are gaining experience by the moment in their quest to make the franchise’s first appearance in the Western Conference finals since 2016. The Nuggets have shown that depth remains a concern as they brace for a win-or-stay-home scenario at Ball Arena.
“We’re going to go play the game in Denver, and then we get to come back,” Murray said after Tuesday’s 112-105 loss in Oklahoma City, hinting at a Game 7 that would take place Sunday. “We’ve just got to keep a good mindset. It’s not like we’re playing a bad brand of basketball. It’s not like we’re playing selfish. It comes down to getting a couple stops to win the game.”
The Thunder may be youthful, but they’re also composed — no matter the fourth-quarter deficit.
In Game 4, they rallied after being down eight in the final quarter. In Game 6, they were trailing by nine before Lu Dort came to the rescue. Dort hit three critical 3-pointers in a two-minute stretch to help propel the Thunder.
“We always say the answer is never a hero play or anything out of the ordinary,” said Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who scored 31 points in Game 5. “It’s being who we are. It’s trusting each other.”
All the time on the court may be adding up for Denver’s starting five, which has played roughly 951 minutes in the series — 138 more than Oklahoma City’s starters. Denver doesn’t have much bench depth outside of Russell Westbrook, Peyton Watson and occasionally Julian Strawther.
What’s more, the Nuggets are a combined 12 of 44 from the field — 2 of 24 from 3-point range — in the fourth quarter during their last two losses.
Scoring-wise, three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic was the only thing the Nuggets had going for them in the fourth quarter Tuesday as he hit 4 of 6 shots from the field. The rest of the team was a combined 1 of 15 in the final quarter, including 0 of 10 from 3-point range.
“If it is fatigue, that’s on me,” Nuggets interim head coach David Adelman said. “If guys are tired or had tired legs, that’s the decisions I’m making.”
Meanwhile, the Thunder had nine players see at least 10 minutes of action in Game 5. That versatility up and down the bench is simply the identity of the Thunder, who are the West’s top seed after a 68-win regular season.
“Nothing’s been unexpected or wowed us in our performances. It’s been what we know all year,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “All year, we’ve been building those habits to make sure that we are ready for these moments and ready for these games. We have one more to go get.”
Standing in the way is Jokic, who’s rediscovered his shooting touch. He finished with 44 points on 17 of 25 shooting in Game 5. This after shooting 31.9% over the previous two games.
“I don’t think ‘Joke’ should be going through any type of slander when he’s still playing all-NBA-, MVP-, Hall of Fame-type of level,” Murray explained. “He’s been playing amazing. He does everything he can to win every single night.”
The Nuggets are searching for ways to ignite a banged-up Michael Porter Jr., who’s wearing a pad on his sprained left shoulder. Porter was held to two points on Tuesday. He was 0 for 5 from 3-point range, including two misses in the final 68 seconds.
“When he’s open, he needs to take it, and we want him to take a shot,” Jokic said.
Their confidence level heading into a game where the Thunder could wrap up the series?
“We’re not going to go and just give them Game 6,” Jokic said. “We will play our best.”
Oklahoma City Thunder at Denver Nuggets
When/where to watch: Game 6, 8:30 p.m. EDT (ESPN).
Series: Thunder lead 3-2.
BetMGM Sportsbook: Thunder by 4.5.
What to know: The last time Oklahoma City made the conference finals was 2016, when they lost to Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors in seven games. It was a Thunder team that featured Kevin Durant and Westbrook. This version of the Thunder has what coach Mark Daigneault called “unbelievable spirit” after Tuesday’s win. ”That’s why they’ve accomplished what they’ve accomplished to this point,” Daigneault said. “For a lot of that game we didn’t have our fastball. But we hung around long enough and showed great will and connectedness down the stretch.”
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