Jamal Murray plays sick, Julian Strawther shines and Nuggets force Game 7 vs. Thunder

Bennett Durando, The Denver Post on May 15, 2025

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DENVER — Jamal Murray interrupted himself.

Running on autopilot, he had tripped over his words. The cost of a confident instinct. “It sucks,” he was saying after the Nuggets lost a painful Game 5 in Oklahoma City, pushing them to the brink of elimination. “It’s sports, man. But the greatest thing is, in a day and a half, we get to come back.”

That’s when Murray paused. Down 3-2 in the series, he couldn’t get ahead of himself yet.

“Sorry,” the Nuggets point guard said, smirking. “We’re gonna go play the game in Denver, and then we get to come back.”

What he couldn’t have anticipated was the individual obstacle he woke up to Thursday. Nuggets interim coach David Adelman received the news in a phone call: His second-best player was ill. Questionable to play in the elimination game that night.

Backed into every conceivable corner, the Nuggets kept their season alive anyway with a 119-107 Game 6 win over the Thunder at Ball Arena. For the second consecutive series to start the 2025 NBA playoffs, they will play a winner-take-all Game 7 — this time on the road, in Oklahoma City, on Sunday afternoon.

Taking the first-place Thunder to the brink required Murray to take in fluids and play through it. He compiled 25 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. He might not have been the spitting image of 1997 Michael Jordan, but he was Denver’s own visage of brilliant resilience. He always has been. Maybe he did know what was coming when he bit his tongue with a cheeky smile two days earlier in Oklahoma.

The series has been characterized by smug antics in defeat. Trampled by the Nuggets in overtime of Game 3, trailing 2-1, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was caught on camera flashing a smile as he walked off the court. Both Canadian guards have followed through. That this goes seven games feels appropriate.

Gilgeous-Alexander was exceptional for the Thunder on Thursday, leading all scorers with 32 points on 11-of-16 shooting. But Murray, Nikola Jokic and Denver’s role players were overwhelming. Jokic amassed 29 points, 14 boards and eight assists. Christian Braun added 23, 11 and five.

And then there was Julian Strawther, who played the best game of his two-year pro career at the perfect time. With two minutes remaining in the third quarter, Game 6 was deadlocked at 80. Strawther knocked down a go-ahead 3-pointer on an assist from Murray. He drilled another from the corner two possessions later. He laid in a pass from Murray with six seconds left.

In a 10-0 Denver run, Strawther contributed eight. He finished the night with 15 points, all in the last 14 minutes of game time. He entered Game 6 with 14 total points in the series.

Before the game, Adelman doubled down on his decision to play Jokic the entire fourth quarter of Game 5 as the Nuggets blew a 12-point lead. But this time, he took his chances, giving the three-time MVP three minutes of rest. Denver held down the fort without Jokic, and when he returned, he scored five consecutive points to help land a knockout blow.

“Nuggets in seven” chants reverberated through Ball Arena soon after.

Both teams threw punches befitting of the moment before halftime. The Nuggets made 12 of their first 19 shots and assisted on 11 of them to go up 30-20, all in the first 10 minutes. Setting up shop on the left wing most possessions, their starting lineup played to the second side with seemingly more conviction than it had all series.

But Adelman had to make substitutions eventually. They continued to yield messy results. Russell Westbrook crashed the party with problematic turnovers and shot selection. Strawther got targeted by every OKC action. The lead was down to three by the end of the quarter.

Still, Denver broke even in a small handful of minutes without Jokic. It was immediately after he checked back in that Cason Wallace buried a game-tying 3, beginning a 24-9 Thunder run. Gilgeous-Alexander dotted the second quarter with close-out magic, including a tough high-arcing 3 over Aaron Gordon.

The Nuggets stayed afloat by forcing Gilgeous-Alexander out of the game. Less than a minute after Oklahoma City took its largest lead at 58-46, he picked up his fourth foul, sending him helplessly to the bench for the last 89 seconds of the first half. Three straight empty possessions followed, helping Denver execute a swift 12-0 run to tie. Lu Dort answered with a corner 3 at the buzzer for a 61-58 lead, setting up the latest suspenseful second half in a thrilling series.

Even in the end, the Thunder made Ball Arena sweat, trimming a 16-point deficit to nine. The Nuggets struggled to break OKC’s press — a snag worth remembering, even if it was too little too late in Game 6.