Jamal Murray‘s illness had the Denver Nuggets listing him as “questionable” before Game 6. As usual, his performance in an elimination game was anything but questionable.
Whatever the Nuggets medical staff did to help Murray recover on Thursday worked. Murray had 25 points, eight rebounds and seven assists in Denver’s 119-107 win over the Thunder that forced a Game 7 in Oklahoma City Sunday afternoon. In the 42 minutes Murray played, the Nuggets were 28 points better than the Thunder. In the six minutes he sat, they were 16 points worse.
It was a typical elimination game for Murray, who is 9-3 in such playoff games for his career. He averages 27.6 points, 5.7 rebounds and 4.4 assists. Now he’ll have two full days to rest, hydrate and prepare for the 13th elimination game of his career.
Game 6 swung near the end of the second quarter, after the Thunder had taken a 12-point lead thanks to a 9-0 run, initiated by six straight points by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (32 points, six assists). But when SGA picked up his fourth foul and had to sit, the Nuggets rallied to tie the game, with Murray finding Christian Braun for a tying three-pointer before Lu Dort answered with his own at the buzzer.
In the third, Nuggets interim head coach David Adelman was aggressive with his starters, keeping Murray, Braun and Nikola Jokic in the game all quarter. That paid off with a 10-0 run at the end of the quarter when Murray assisted on three Julian Strawther baskets, scored one of his own and drew an offensive foul. The Thunder never got closer than seven points the rest of the way.
In a series where Jokic’s teammates have let him down, Denver got 23 points from Braun and 15 for Strawther. Jokic had 29 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists, but only took had to take 14 shots.
He and Murray both made nine field goals, while Braun made eight. It was enough on a night where the Nuggets dominated on the boards, 52-40, and made 17 more free throws.
The Jokic-Murray combination has won a lot of big playoff games over the years. Thursday’s game was one of the biggest.
