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Jamal Murray fought through an illness to score 25 points and power the Denver Nuggets past the Thunder 119-107 on Thursday night, sending the series back to Oklahoma City for a decisive Game 7.
Sick since Wednesday, Murray was listed as questionable for the game. He 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 to double digits for the first time.
Nikola Jokic led Denver with 29 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists, and Christian Braun scored a career playoff-best 23 points to go with 12 rebounds. 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.
Strawther had a pair of 3s and a layup during a 10-0 third-quarter spurt that helped Denver take a double-digit lead, and he kept going in the fourth quarter as the Nuggets finally had a laugher in this exhaustive, physical series.
Game 7 is Sunday, with the Minnesota Timberwolves awaiting the winner after dispatching Golden State in five games.
One negative for Denver: Aaron Gordon grabbed at his left hamstring late in the game and hobbled through the final few minutes.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with 32 points, including 18 after halftime despite playing with four fouls since the second quarter. But he didn’t get enough help from his usually reliable teammates to clinch Oklahoma City’s first trip to the Western Conference Finals since 2016, when it lost to the Warriors in seven games.
Chet Holmgren added 19 points. All-Star Jalen Williams scored six points on 3-of-16 shooting.
Although Lu Dort’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer gave the Thunder a 61-58 halftime lead, it was the Nuggets who swaggered through the tunnel after erasing a 12-point deficit with a 12-0 run over the final 2:05 of the first half, a run capped by Braun’s 3-pointer.
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 Thunder have only lost back-to-back games twice this season, once in November and once in early April.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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