HG08 Jamal Murray "very confident" that the Nuggets can play Game 7 against the Thunder

Jamaal Murray and the Nuggets wasted the fourth quarter lead in Games 4 and 5, erasing any fault tolerance space before entering Game 6.

Denver - Jamal Murray does not have a complete guarantee of entering Game 7. However, he hints at this when he sips the blueberry-colored post-match smoothie.

"Very confident," the Denver Nuggets guard said of returning to Oklahoma City.

Before this, there is the sixth game in Denver on Thursday night. For the Nuggets, they also face the problem of how to maintain their fourth quarter lead. Previously, the Thunder took a 3-2 lead in the second round of the series with a strong counterattack in the final two games.

The young Thunder are accumulating experience and striving to reach the Western Conference Finals for the first time since 2016. The Nuggets have shown that the depth of the team remains a problem as they prepare to face the “either win or stay home” situation at the Ball Arena.

"We'll go to Denver to play and come back," Murray said after losing to Oklahoma City 112-105 on Tuesday, suggesting that Game 7 will be played on Sunday. "We just need to maintain a good attitude. We are not playing bad basketball, nor are we selfish. The key is to keep our feet firm and win the game."

The Thunder may still be young, but they are also calm - no matter how much they are behind in the fourth quarter. In the fourth game, they rebounded strongly while trailing 8 points in the final quarter. In the sixth game, they were once 9 points behind, until Lou Dort stepped up and pulled the score wide. Dort hit three key three-pointers in two minutes to help the Thunder take the lead.

"We always say that the answer is never a heroic performance, nor anything extraordinary," said Shea Gilgers-Alexander, who scored 31 points in Game 5. "The key is to be ourselves, to trust each other." The starting five Tigers in Denver may have accumulated time on the court, and their playing time in the series was about 951 minutes, 138 more minutes than the starting player in Oklahoma City. Denver’s substitute lineup is not deep, except for Russell Westbrook, Payton Watson and the occasional Julian Strauser.

More importantly, the Nuggets shot just 12 of 44 shots in the fourth quarter in the last two games, with only 2 of 24 shots from 3-pointers. In terms of scoring, three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic was the only scoring point for the Nuggets in the fourth quarter on Tuesday, with him making 4 of 6 shots. The other players of the team made a total of 15 shots in the last quarter, including 0 of 10 three-pointers.

"If it's because of fatigue, it's my fault," said interim head coach David Adelman of the Nuggets. “If the players are tired, or their legs and feet are sore, that’s my decision.”

Meanwhile, the Thunder have nine players in Game 5 and have played for at least 10 minutes. The diversity on the bench is the mark of the Thunder, who have won 68 regular season games and become the top seed in the West.

"We did nothing unexpected or amazing about our performance. This is something we have known throughout the year," said Gilgers-Alexander. "We have been developing these habits throughout the year to make sure we are ready for these moments and for these games. We have one more game to win."

Jokic's defense has made a huge contribution, and he has regained his shooting feel. In the fifth game, he made 17 of 25 shots and scored 44 points. In the previous two games, his shooting percentage was only 31.9%.

"I don't think the Joker should be subject to any slander because he is still playing at the NBA All-Squad, MVP and Hall of Fame level," Murray explained. "He played so well. He tried his best to win every night." The Nuggets were looking for ways to inspire injured Michael Porter, who had a sprained left shoulder and was wearing protective gear. Porter scored only 2 points on Tuesday. He made 0 of 5 three-pointers, including two missed in the last 68 seconds.

"When he is in a free space, he needs to take action, and we want him to take action," Jokic said.

How confident are they in the Thunder to win the series?

"We're not going to let them play Game 6," Jokic said. "We will do our best."