Thunder vs Nuggets G6 Preview: Jokic Forced into a tiebreaker again? Alexander is aiming for a 4-2 victory

At 8:30 a.m. Beijing time on May 16, the Thunder will play the Nuggets on the road to start the sixth game of the series. In the first five games, the Thunder led 3-2 on aggregate, and they were only one win away from advancing to the Western Conference Finals. The Nuggets had a tie-break with the Clippers in the first round, can Jokic force this series into a tiebreaker as well?

The Nuggets led the Thunder in the final quarter of two consecutive games, but failed to hold on to the win. Now that the Thunder have got the match point, the Nuggets have no way out.

As the top seed in the West for the second consecutive season, the Thunder haven't reached the division finals since 2016, when they were outended by the Warriors with a 3-1 overall lead in the Western Conference finals and lost in a tiebreaker. While no one in the current squad has experienced that series, the players know they have to focus on finishing games.

'It's a key game in Denver against a very good team and we have to be fully focused. Alexander said.

With the exception of the Thunder, who scored 43 points in G2, the rest of the series was fought to the final moments. The Nuggets used their playoff experience to take a total lead, but the Thunder relied on stronger execution in the final quarter to succeed in the last two games.

The Thunder drained the physical strength of Jokic, the core of the Nuggets, through a suffocating defense, and although Jokic scored 44 points and 15 rebounds in the G5 explosion, the Thunder forced Jokic's teammates to take key shots, a strategy that paid off in G5 — Jokic and Aaron Gordon combined for 23-of-38 shooting, but the rest of the players only made 17-of-59 shooting, and Michael Porter Jr., who was injured, made 1-of-7 shooting.

"We've played well enough in the last two games, but a big part of the loss was because I didn't contribute, and it's tough, really tough," Porter Jr. said...... I didn't help the team in any way. ”

Murray scored 13 points in the third quarter, but shot just 1-of-6 in the final quarter, with the only open goal coming with 17 seconds left in the game. Jokic shot 4-of-6 in 12 minutes of the final quarter, but the rest of the players combined for 1-of-15. In the Nuggets, Jokic, Murray, and Braun all played more than 42 minutes, and Gordon played 37 minutes; On the other hand, the Thunder played the most minutes of Alexander, who played 39 minutes.

"If there's a fitness problem, it's on me," Nuggets interim coach David Adelman said, "and it's up to me to decide who should play and who should dominate the game." ”

The lack of roster depth has become the Nuggets' fatal wound in the series. They relied heavily on a seven-man rotation, occasionally sending other players on brief appearances, and had to rely on championship experience to maneuver with the younger Thunder. The Thunder, on the other hand, have gained experience in the series and have become more difficult to deal with.

"We're stronger now than we were at the start of the series," Thunder coach Daigneault said, "and we're obviously evolving, growing and learning. ”

List of injuries and illnesses

Thunder: Topic is out

Nuggets: Holmes, Tyson are out

ESPN predicts the win rate: Thunder 61.8%, Nuggets 38.2%