Denver Nuggets vs Oklahoma City Thunder

The Denver Nuggets aim to force a decisive Game 7 in their Western Conference semi-final clash with the Oklahoma City Thunder as they face off at Ball Arena on Friday morning.

The Thunder have twice erased a one-game deficit in this series, positioning themselves one win away from their first conference finals appearance since the 2015-16 season.

After missing eight of their first nine shots on Wednesday, the Nuggets overcame a sluggish start to build an 11-point lead in the second quarter. Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray then pushed the margin to 12 entering the final period.

However, Lu Dort drained three straight 3-pointers in a two-minute burst to pull the Thunder within two points, and late 3-pointers from Jalen Williams and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander sealed a comeback win for OKC.

Jokic delivered a playoff-high 44 points and 15 rebounds for a standout double-double, but the 31-year-old lacked support in the frontcourt, with only Murray (28 points) scoring above 13 among Denver’s other seven players.

Despite securing two victories in the series’ first three games, David Adelman’s squad trails 3-2 heading into Friday’s do-or-die contest, having squandered home-court advantage in a 92-87 loss in Game 3 last weekend.

Gilgeous-Alexander, who struggled with his shot in the prior two games, rose to the occasion on Wednesday, posting 31 points, seven assists, and six rebounds to propel the Thunder to a pivotal Game 5 triumph.

OKC also saw balanced scoring, with six players reaching double digits, including Isaiah Hartenstein (15), Chet Holmgren (14), and 24-year-old Williams, who notched 18 points and fell one rebound short of his first playoff double-double.

Despite being the NBA’s youngest team this season, coach Mark Daigneault can take pride in his team’s playoff performance, having clinched the West’s top seed with a 68-14 regular-season record.

The Thunder head to Ball Arena riding a wave of six victories in their last seven road games, with their lone loss in that stretch coming on May 10, when they dropped a 113-104 overtime decision to Denver.

Hunter Tyson, a 24-year-old big, has missed all three of the Denver Nuggets' games since he sprained his ankle in Game 2 of the semi-finals.

Similar to Denver, the Oklahoma City Thunder will also have to deal with the absence of Serbian guard Nikola Topic, who has a serious knee injury that will keep him out for the rest of the season.

With 28.0 points per game, Gilgeous-Alexander is now second in the scoring rankings among the eight teams remaining in the playoffs, only surpassed by Boston Celtics' Jayson Tatum (28.1), following a 31-point performance at the PayCom Center on Wednesday.