Thunder nuggets: 4 things you have to watch as a series returns to Denver for game 6

DENVER -This series could be 3: 2 for every team. This is the beauty of Nuggets vs. Thunder: Basketball was intense, the fourth quarters were important and this is not their typical No. 1 against No. 4 – especially if 18 games separated Denver and OKC during the regular season.

Ask yourself after examining the five games in this semi -finals of the Western Conference: are the thunder really 18 games better than the nuggets?

Not in this series. And that's good for basketball Thursday (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN) with elimination on the line.

The thunder is a victory to be eight wins from an NBA championship. The Nuggets are a win to save their season in a game 7.

Do not expect anything less from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokić. Expect that Jamal Murray or Jalen Williams bring a co-star gloss. Exciting someone else to meet the challenge and play over their usual contributions, because this happens every time.

And what else can we expect?

Here are four things that you can see in a game with obvious urgency for the effects of nuggets and conference championships for OKC.

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1. An MVP showdown

This series finally received Premium appearances from Jokić and Shai in the same game when this Kia MVP finalist started in game 5. Jokić (44 points, 15 rebounds) was incredible game and the only option of the Nuggets in the fourth quarter. Gilgeous-Alexander (31 points, seven templates) was also stable everywhere and scored fourth points for themselves and teammates.

Common sense says that he has the same Thursday like these players proud and a lot at stake. Gilgeous-Alexander wants to continue while Jokić wants to save the season.

The league has not announced when the MVP will be awarded, and at that time it will not happen before the conference final. However, there is another close competition in this series that could flow into the MVP finalist on Thursday and again on Sunday (if necessary).

Basketball fans without connections to both teams should trudge between Gilgeous-Alexander and Jokić for a game 7. The drama would be out of the charts and the performances would probably justify it.

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2. Large rotation test for Adelman

When the Nuggets Michael Malone only released a week before the playoffs, David Adelman was increased and thrown into the fire. So it was a coaching change at an extremely unusual time: Malone is a championship, while Adelman has never been sitting in the big chair.

The interim coach and son of the former NBA coach Rick Adelman received his stripes with a win in the first round against the Los Angeles Lakers. But this series takes him to the hot spot, especially in game 6, where it has to make adjustments.

Starting with: What to do with Michael Porter Jr.?

Porter scored three points or less in three of the five games in this series. This is unacceptable for someone whose main task it is to meet open jumpers and whose playoff -Track -Record was not outstanding from the start (he shot bad in the final in the final and disappeared in the West Semis 2024).

His mistakes create a domino effect when the burden falls on others (and the nuggets do not bring exactly a lot of reinforcements). Is Adelman Porter in favor of Julian Strawther and/or Peyton Watson, fewer talents that are nevertheless striving to make a name?

Here Denvers triggers failure to make a deal on February. Porter can facilitate Adelman's job with a hot start on Thursday, if only to build self -confidence for himself (and with his teammates) and at the same time bring the defense of OKC to the warning. Otherwise the trainer has to make a massive decision.

If Adelman moves this, the likelihood that he will increase the Nuggets coaching job permanently.

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3. Okcs 3-D on Jokić

The thunder throws three defenders on Jokić, each offering a different variety. This should not change on Thursday. They offer the following:

• Isaiah Hartenstein: The best combination of size and weight. OKC signed him for this reason last summer: to get Jokić up and running. And he has mostly.

• Chet Holmgren: He is too thin for the body-up Jokić in color, but let yourself be deceptive-wooden greens is a talented shot blocker. It is even better if he and Hartenstein are together on the floor. Holmgren cheats his husband and turns the double team on Jokić and forces him to shoot both defenders.

• Jaylen Williams: “J-Will” had a strange exchange with Jokić in game 5 when they blocked weapons and would not publish. Jokić was finally bubbed because of an offensive foul. Williams gives up the size, but brings a lot of strength with a lower body and the best of all for OKC is not afraid.

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4. They rest for the tired

The greatest motivation of the Nuggets on Thursday – apart from their season at the game – is the chance to achieve something that has not happened since April: calm.

The last time the Nuggets rest between the playoff games for two days, April 27th and 28th in their first round with seven games with the La Clippers. They went directly from the competition against the top seed Thunder, a winner with 68 games, who had taken a week between the rounds.

If the nuggets win on Thursday, game 7 would give a tip on Sunday (3:30 p.m. ET, ABC). Therefore (as if he had a lot of choice), Adelman will probably ask his best players to burn Thursday for more than 40 minutes, even if, as Game 5 showed, they are gassed in the fourth quarter.

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Shaun Powell has covered the NBA for more than 25 years. You can send him an email Here you will find his archive here and follow him X.

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