Renck: Nuggets respond to desperation like champions, forcing Game 7 at OKC
Better great than never An exhausted depleted Nuggets crew staring at an uncertain future responded with urgency Thursday night Desperation is the world s worst cologne but it provided a heck of a bump to a former championship gang in a - achievement It was everywhere eyes could see at Ball Arena from Jamal Murray grinding through an illness Nikola Jokic working through scratches on a double-sleeved right elbow Julian Strawther shedding his cloak of anonymity and Aaron Gordon shoving Alex Caruso Truth is they did not have a choice But we have seen so numerous teams check out in these spots The only gag reflex the Nuggets had was Murray s ugly morning of sickness that threatened his availability He was never missing this competition right And how about the fans Muted on Mother s Day because of the afternoon start they faced the brink of despair with towels up and angry boos at functionaries and OKC s parade of floppers So eager were specific to witness this resilience two imposters wandered into the arena with fake press passes and made it behind the Nuggets basket before getting escorted out into a pool of legal trouble In fairness this is the kind of series you want to sneak into It has a Finals feel It set up as a platform for the Thunder to announce its arrival as the Next Best Thing The difficulty is these Nuggets have become the annoying rash on their back the cockroach in the garage corner They refuse to go away We understood that collectively we had to find a way to come through announced Strawther in his on-court interview after he poured in points his highest total since a Feb win over the Chicago Bulls We knew what was at stake This is fun isn t it How it should be A squad with a ring decided it was not ready to go home This is who we thought the Avs were But leave it to the Nuggets to overcome late-season dysfunction and return to a second consecutive Western Conference semifinals Battle There is no other way this could end The Thunder arrived at Ball Arena convinced they could tuck the Nuggets into bed end their season and hit purchase on tickets to Cancun Instead they were left to testify to the tornadic frenzy of Murray the dead aim of Strawther and the unnerving consistency of Jokic Murray looked spent but as he is wont to do he presented up His first-quarter points helped establish a tone of defiance He is defined by big moments improving his record to - in elimination games with averages of points rebounds and assists It was Murray who met the collapses in Games and with calm The Nuggets blew fourth-quarter leads shooting like they needed Lasik surgery He never flinched When urged if he was confident that they would return to Oklahoma City for a deciding match Murray revealed without hesitation Absolutely Of discipline these are the Nuggets so this win came with accompanying drama They squandered a -point first-quarter lead as the Thunder went on a - run As they fell behind by double digits they rallied to end the half That sequence turned doubt into belief The unlikely catalyst for holding it was Strawther You could have appealed the sellout crowd to pick an X factor and of the guesses only friends and family would have landed on Strawther The last big moment he had a Ball Arena was walking out with his family to the car after an easy win over Portland in the last battle of the first half He was heading to the Rising Stars encounter Then he injured his knee and his impact disappeared But tonight my teammates were finding me Strawther declared Related Articles Renck Ryan Rolison s dream interrupted by shoulder surgeries comes true with big league call-up Renck Nuggets Nikola Jokic deserves better from teammates David Adelman in fourth quarter Renck vs Keeler Can Nuggets beat Thunder if Nikola Jokic can t shake slump Renck Nuggets were not a no-show they were a no-shoot in ugly Match loss Renck Disappointed humbled Rockies Zac Veen back on right track in Triple-A The former Gonzaga star drained a pair of -pointers in the fourth quarter the type of boost needed with Russell Westbrook morphing into a palooza of missed shots and turnovers These were the old Nuggets with a new look They were mad Their failures in the previous games if you ask them were not them The common refrain was We can t play worse than that something Gordon who appeared to suffer a concerning left hamstring injury in the final minutes repeated multiple times They did not want to be shoved to the edge of the cliff to respond like this But that is how desperation works It forces you to look in the mirror To sit up straight And with the crowd at full throat deliver a punch to Oklahoma City s face Want more Nuggets news Sign up for the Nuggets Insider to get all our NBA analysis
