LOS ANGELES (AFP) — Nikola Jokic scored 29 points and unheralded bench player Julian Strawther produced a crucial late burst as the Denver Nuggets clinched a series-tying 119-107 victory over the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday.
A hard-fought National Basketball Association (NBA) Western Conference semifinal series will now go to a decisive Game 7 in Oklahoma City on Sunday after another ferocious duel between two evenly matched teams.
Serbian star Jokic was once again the anchor of a composed Denver performance, finishing with 29 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists to shepherd the Nuggets to victory.
Jamal Murray added 25 points while Christian Braun finished with 23. But arguably the most significant contribution came from the bench, with Strawther scoring 15 points.
“Tonight we had a guy step up,” Nuggets interim head coach David Adelman said of Strawther’s performance.
“He made some shots and then our main people were still complementary.”
Denver’s win came after they had fallen 3-2 down in the series following late stumbles to lose Games 4 and 5.
“Those losses were tough but the series is still here,” Adelman said.
“I know it’s a cliche, but every game is its own chapter, its own thing, its own entity and different people are going to step up.”
“And now we’ve put ourselves in a position where we can say, ‘Hey, let’s go see what happens on Sunday’. And I know I’ve got a group of guys that have been in a lot of game sevens and seen a lot of things. So we’re excited for the opportunity.”
Oklahoma City looked ready to clinch a series victory after surging into a 12-point lead late in the second quarter at Denver’s Ball Arena.
But Denver, as they have done all series, once again refused to roll over and rallied to trim the Thunder lead to 61-58 at the break.
There was little to choose between the teams for most of the third quarter, and with just under two minutes remaining in the frame, the score was level at 80-80.
Yet within moments Denver had suddenly opened up a double-digit advantage after a 10-0 run that put the Nuggets into a 90-80 lead.
The scoring spree came from an unlikely source, with the 23-year-old Strawther, in only his second season in the league, suddenly finding his scoring range.