Nuggets Outlast Thunder in Game 6, Series Heads to Decisive Finale

The Denver Nuggets showed a lot of fight last night, storming back to cut the Oklahoma City Thunder’s lead from 12 to 2 in just two minutes after Shai Gilgeous-Alexander picked up his fourth foul in the first half—his first game with four first-half fouls since October 2022. The momentum that guard Jamal Murray and center Nikola Jokic provided proved to be too much for the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Thunder fell 119-107, behind a disappointing game from All-Star guard Jalen Williams, who finished with 6 points on 3-for-16 shooting, along with ten rebounds and seven assists. A letdown performance for a player in a contract year. Game 7 will take place Sunday in Oklahoma City, where the Thunder have only lost back-to-back games twice this season. They remain confident heading home, aiming to secure their first conference finals berth in almost a decade.

Head coach Mark Daigneault commended Denver for their tough play last night. “First of all, credit to Denver. They threw a punch tonight—as has happened in this series, both teams are exchanging blows.”

The final blow will be thrown Sunday, and Denver will hope for another strong performance from second-year guard Julian Strawther, who had his best game of the playoffs, finishing Game 6 with 15 points on 50% shooting from the field. Aaron Gordon praised Strawther’s contribution.

“Julian played huge for us, made really big shots,” Gordon told the media. “I don’t think that’s something they game-planned for.”

A huge Game 7 looms Sunday afternoon to decide the challenger for Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference Finals. Either the Thunder take the next step in their rise toward becoming a powerhouse, or Jokic and company continue their fight for a second championship.