Oklahoma

Nuggets deliver in fourth quarter, setting up Game 7 with Thunder in Oklahoma City

Published

10 months ago

May 16, 2025

Nuggets deliver in fourth quarter, setting up Game 7 with Thunder in Oklahoma City

DENVER — The Denver Nuggets weren’t going down at home.

Following consecutive late-game collapses in losses to Oklahoma City, the Nuggets closed strong Thursday night for a 119-107 Game 6 win over the Thunder. The win ties the Western Conference semifinal series at 3-3 and sends it back to Oklahoma City for a winner-take-all Game 7 with a berth in the Western Conference finals at stake.

Gassed and worn down by a deep and relentless Thunder roster, the Nuggets lost Games 4 and 5 after holding leads of at least eight points in the fourth quarter of each game. They entered the fourth quarter of Thursday’s game with a 90-82 advantage.

This time, they held on for the win as Denver didn’t have to lean almost strictly on Nikola Jokić down the stretch. Julian Strawther provided a big burst off the bench, and the Nuggets got a balanced effort from their starting unit, including a strong game from Jamal Murray, who was questionable with an undisclosed illness in the hour before tipoff.

Murray sets tone while playing sick

Murray opened Denver’s scoring with a four-point play after being fouled on a 3-pointer and finished the first quarter with 11 points, quelling concerns that he wouldn’t be a factor in a closeout game for the Nuggets.

“I kind of was watching the first six minutes like is this real, can he do it?” Nuggets coach David Adelman said after the game. “That’s Jamal Murray. It’s almost like the worse it is, the better off it’s gonna be. What a tough-minded man.”

Murray cooled off and made just 1-of-5 shots in the second quarter. But he picked things back up in the third quarter as the Nuggets mounted a 32-21 run to seize control of the game.

Murray finished as Denver’s second-leading scorer with 25 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists. And he never had a doubt that he would play.

“I woke up feeling it,” Murray said. “Went to the clinic, got tested for a couple different things, was negative. Happy about that. But I was always gonna play in my mind.”

No fourth-quarter collapse this time

Playing with a shallow bench, Nuggets coach David Adelman leaned on Jokić for the entire fourth quarter of Tuesday’s 112-105 loss as the three-time MVP was Denver’s only reliable source of offense. That wasn’t the case Thursday night.

Jokić spent the first 4:07 of the fourth quarter resting on the bench as Adelman gambled that his supporting cast would fend off Oklahoma City. That supporting cast delivered. When Jokić returned to the game, Denver had extended its lead to 97-86.

The reward was a rested Jokić for the stretch run of the game, and the Thunder never challenged Denver’s lead again. A Ball Arena crowd that was previously anxious after watching Denver blow a 71-63 lead in Sunday’s Game 4 loss erupted.

“Last game I kind of kicked myself for not taking one of them out,” Adelman said of playing Jokić and Murray for the entire fourth quarter of Game 5. “Nikola seemed body-language wise like he wanted to sit for a second.

“The beautiful thing was I had four timeouts again. I know it didn’t work out last game. That does let you control your substitutions. Those guys held water to start that quarter.”

Strawther provides bench support Denver desperately needs

One of those guys who held water was little-used reserve Julian Strawther, who’d entered Thursday averaging 2.4 points in 7.3 minutes per game while making appearances in seven of Denver’s previous 12 playoff games.

Strawther was the star of the third-quarter rally that allowed the Nuggets to take control of the game that was tied at 78-78 with 3:58 left in the quarter. The Nuggets closed the quarter on a 12-4 run sparked by eight points from Strawther, whose 3-pointer with 1:37 left in the quarter was the first off the bench by the Nuggets.

He hit another with 36.1 seconds remaining to extend Denver’s lead to 88-80.

Strawther’s offensive outburst and defensive effort earned Adelman’s trust to keep him in the game for 10 more minutes in the fourth quarter as the Nuggets thwarted any hope of a Thunder rally.

Strawther rewarded Adelman’s trust with another big 3 down the stretch while playing high-leverage minutes.

“That’s the moment that you dream of when you was a little kid,” Strawther said. “Come into the game, having all the guys believe in you and find you in your spots and just being able to make an impact on the game.”

When the game was done, Strawther had tallied 15 points while shooting 4 of 8 from the field, including a 3-of-4 effort from long distance. It was the surge off the bench this Nuggets team has desperately sought late in this series.

“Julian’s gonna get credit for scoring 15 points,” Adelman said. “I thought he held water defensively, too. That was a big deal.

“You want to keep an offensive player out there. But they have to be able to handle their own on the other end and he did. We didn’t have to change dramatically defensively because he sat down, moved his feet and guarded.”

Support for Nikola Jokić

While Strawther led the bench unit, four different Nuggets starters scored in double figures. Jokić led the way with 29 points, 14 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 steals and 1 block while shooting 9 of 14 from the field. But again, it wasn’t all on him.

Christian Braun added 23 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists. Coming off a 1-of-7, 3-point effort in Game 5, Michael Porter Jr. put up a considerably more efficient 10 points on nine shots while hitting 2-of-5 attempts from long distance.

It added up to a much-needed balanced effort after players not named Jokić shot a combined 1 of 15 from the field in the fourth quarter of Denver’s Game 5 collapse. Jokić spoke about his teammates after the game.

“He was amazing,” Jokić said of Strawther. “He had big points, big moments in the game. … It was a great game for him.

“I think CB played really good. Jamal played really good. Our defense was really good, I think. I think that’s why we won the game.”

The Nuggets won the game from long distance and on the boards. They shot 12 of 32 (37.5%) from 3 compared to an 11-of-40 (27.5%) effort from the Thunder. And they secured a 52-40 rebounding advantage, including an 11-7 edge on the offensive glass.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led Oklahoma City with 32 points and six assists. Chet Holmgren (19 points, 11 rebounds) and Lugentz Dort (10 points) were the only other Thunder starters in double figures. All-Star forward Jalen Williams struggled from the field with 6 points, 7 rebounds and 10 assists on a 3-of-16 shooting night.

Concern for Aaron Gordon

Aaron Gordon was the only Nuggets starter to fail to reach double figures in a five-point effort. And he appeared to sustain a hamstring injury in the game’s final minutes. He clutched his left hamstring after chasing a loose ball in the game’s final two minutes and left the game with 1:10 remaining.

Adelman said after the game that he didn’t know Gordon’s injury status. Gordon said in the Nuggets locker room that he feels “OK.”

“I feel OK. We’ll see,” Gordon said of his status moving forward. “I’m gonna start the recovery process now and make sure I’m getting ready for Game 7. Not entirely sure what happened.”

Denver’s Game 7 experience edge

The series now shifts back to Oklahoma City on Sunday 3:30 p.m. ET, when the Nuggets will play in a Game 7 for a third consecutive series. They lost in the second round last season in Game 7 to the Minnesota Timberwolves and beat the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round of these playoffs.

In fact, the Game 7 will be the seventh for the Nuggets since Murray and Jokić teamed up in Denver, dating back to the 2019 playoffs. But it will mark the first time they’ve played one on the road. They’ve won four of their previous six Game 7s.

The last time the Thunder played in a Game 7 was in the first round of the 2020 playoffs in Gilgeous-Alexander’s first season with the team. The Thunder lost that series to the Houston Rockets in the NBA bubble.

The winner of Sunday’s game will advance to face the Timberwolves in the Western Conference finals, which begin on Tuesday.

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Oklahoma

Oklahoma lawmakers consider bill to require annual fee for transmission lines on private property

Published

3 hours ago

March 2, 2026

Press Room

Oklahoma lawmakers consider bill to require annual fee for transmission lines on private property

As consumer electricity needs grow, lawmakers are discussing strategies to ease the burden on landowners who don’t want the towers and wires carrying that energy on their property.

As it’s written now, the bill would require transmission owners to pay landowners $2 per foot of line annually. During the committee meeting, Murdock said he introduced the legislation to “start a conversation.”

“ This is an idea of, maybe moving forward, if the landowners are getting a royalty off of the power being pushed across their property, it may make it a little more palatable for someone to have a transmission line go across their property,” he said.

Landowners can enter into easement agreements with companies to set aside portions of their land for the builds. But in some cases, eminent domain is used to obtain a right-of-way.

“ I’m not saying that this is going to do away with eminent domain,” Murdock said. “What I’m hoping is this just makes it a little more palatable.”

Murdock said he spoke with utility companies about the legislation, though he didn’t name them. The bill’s language could change after creating an alternative rate based on conversations with the companies, he said.

Sen. Dave Rader, R-Tulsa, said the bill could raise utility rates for consumers living in Oklahoma’s most populous counties if companies charge more to make up for the annual fee.

Murdock pushed back, noting the lines are necessary to deliver electricity to other counties.

“You understand that you flip that light on because — and have that ability to have electricity because — the people in my district have a transmission line that goes across them, getting you that power,” he said.

StateImpact Oklahoma is a partnership of Oklahoma’s public radio stations which relies on contributions from readers and listeners to fulfill its mission of public service to Oklahoma and beyond. Donate online.

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Oklahoma

Oklahoma Ford Sports Blitz: Mar. 1, 2026

Published

15 hours ago

March 2, 2026

Press Room

Oklahoma Ford Sports Blitz: Mar. 1, 2026

Big night in downtown OKC as the Oklahoma City Thunder welcome the Denver Nugget and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is back on the floor.

Steve McGehee reports live from Paycom Center with the latest on SGA’s return after missing nine games, the Thunder’s push to hold the top spot in the Western Conference, and what getting healthy means for OKC’s title hopes.

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Oklahoma

How Oklahoma GM Jim Nagy ‘Put More Around’ John Mateer During Offseason

Published

1 day ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

How Oklahoma GM Jim Nagy ‘Put More Around’ John Mateer During Offseason

Oklahoma general manager Jim Nagy experienced great success during his first year in Norman.

Nagy, who joined OU’s staff in February 2025, oversaw the Sooners’ scouting staff as Oklahoma reached the College Football Playoff for the first time since 2019. He also helped OU sign a top-15 2026 recruiting class and land several key transfer portal players after the 2025 season.

Though the wins outweighed the losses in Nagy’s first year, the Sooners’ general manager knew that there was much to fortify during the offseason.

Oklahoma’s offense sputtered late in the season, as the Sooners scored fewer than 25 points in each of their last four games.

For Nagy, a major focus was surrounding OU quarterback John Mateer with quality talent.

“(We wanted to) just really put more around John Mateer,” Nagy said on The Dari Nowkhah Show on KREF on Friday.

Nagy and his scouting team added plenty of pieces from the portal that should elevate Oklahoma’s offense.

The Sooners signed three portal wideouts — Trell Harris (Virginia), Parker Livingstone (Texas) and Mackenzie Alleyne (Washington State) — after the 2025 season to join returning receivers Isaiah Sategna, Jer’Michael Carter and Jacob Jordan.

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Sategna, who transferred to OU from Arkansas after the 2024 season, served as Mateer’s safety net in 2025. The receiver finished the year with 965 yards and eight touchdowns on 67 catches.

Harris and Livingstone are both proven producers at the Power Four level, and Nagy believes that those two will make OU’s receiving corps stronger in 2026.

“Those two, we’re very excited about both of those guys,” Nagy said.

Nagy also did plenty of work to ensure that OU’s run game improves in 2026.

The Sooners added three tight ends — Hayden Hansen (Florida), Rocky Beers (Colorado State) and Jack Van Dorselaer (Tennessee) — from the portal. They also added three transfer offensive linemen: Caleb Nitta (Western Kentucky), E’Marion Harris (Arkansas) and Peyton Joseph (Georgia Tech).

OU will have its two top running backs from the 2025 squad, Xavier Robinson and Tory Blaylock, back in 2026.

For those two to reach their full potential, the Sooners’ blockers will have to regularly open up running lanes — and Nagy is confident that they will.

“We have to run the ball better, there’s no way around that,” Nagy said. “Our job is to create more competition in every room in the offseason. I feel like we’ve done that.”

On the show, Nagy revealed that the Sooners added nearly 9,000 collegiate snaps to their roster during the offseason.

The general manager believes that both sides of the ball will be stronger as a result of his scouting team’s offseason efforts and their collaboration with OU’s coaching staff.

“I’ve tried to be really intentional with our communication,” Nagy said. “There’s a common goal: We’re trying to win a national championship. This is a true partnership, and we all have the same goal in mind. It’s going to continue to evolve and get better.”

Oklahoma will open its 2026 season against UTEP on Sept. 5.

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