CNN
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Jamal Murray overcomes the illness and helps the Denver Nuggets force Game 7 against top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference Semi-Final Series in the NBA Playoffs.
Murray played Denver’s 119-107 Game 6 victory on Thursday in Colorado, scoring 25 points and adding eight rebounds and seven assists to rate the top seven series 3-3.
The 28-year-old point guard was listed as suspicious in the game after waking up Thursday and feeling unwell.
However, he eventually put on a suit and played the highest number of minutes in the game, helping the Nuggets stay in the series.
Murray later admitted that he had no doubts about whether he would play in Game 6, explaining that “the team needs you.”
Denver interim head coach David Adelman called Murray the “tough-minded guy” who showed him in the victory and admitted that he had a “high potential” that he didn’t play.
“I was watching the first six minutes (thinking): ‘Is this true? Can he do that?” Adelman later told reporters. “And I thought he had good energy and good juice, he really wanted to get the ball because he really fell into the gas and was having trouble breathing.
“But it’s Jamal Murray. It’s going to get pretty much worse, but it’s going to be better.”
Murray complemented Nikola Zhokic’s dominance over the Thunder in Game 6, just as they did during the 2023 title run.
Dynamism from a Murray ball fully molded with the precise passage of Jokic and internal size as Oklahoma City defenders continue to take the solution.
Jokic led the Nuggets with 29 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists, while Julian Stroser added 15 points from the bench to give him a much-needed scoring punch.
Strawther only played 30 minutes in the first five games of the series, but scored all the points in the second half, putting a burden on the team’s stars.
In the case of Thunder, they lack attacks other than Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s 32-point attacks, and 2025 All-Star Jalen Williams continues to struggle during the series.
Williams finished with just six points and his performance was typical of making a strip in the fourth quarter, but missed a layup with no defender near him.
“It’s not hurting us tonight,” Williams later said by NBA.com. “I became the spot I wanted to go to, they didn’t go in. That’s how basketball works.”
The results on Thursday set a thrilling game 7 on Sunday in Oklahoma, appearing in the final of the Western Conference against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
According to ESPN, it has been the Nuggets’ seventh game since 2019, and will be the most in the NBA during that period.
In addition to Murray’s illness, the Nuggets will be worried about the availability of their star power forward Aaron Gordon after appearing to have hurt the left hamstring late in the fourth quarter of Game 6.
On two days of rest before Game 7, Gordon missed the elimination matchup.
“I feel it’s okay,” Gordon told reporters. “I understand. I’ll start the recovery process now and make sure you’re ready for Game 7.”