DENVER — Gear up for Game 7.
The Nuggets fended off the Thunder 119-107 Thursday night in Denver.
Let’s get to the grades.
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Foul trouble: D
It plagued the Thunder.
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Shai Gilgeous-Alexander picked up his fourth foul 90 seconds before halftime. It was a silly frustration foul after he committed a turnover.
Isaiah Hartenstein and Jaylin Williams both had three fouls in the first half. Williams played heavy minutes in the first half in large part due to Hartenstein’s foul trouble.
The foul trouble knocked the Thunder off rhythm, and OKC never really recovered.
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Thunder free-throw shooting: C-
The Nuggets doubled up the Thunder from the free throw line — 32 attempts for Denver to OKC’s 16.
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Back to the foul trouble … OKC committed 28 fouls to Denver’s 16.
Making matters worse, the Thunder didn’t capitalize on its rare trips to the line. It made 10-of-16 foul shots. SGA missed three free throws (8-of-11). Chet Holmgren was 1-of-3.
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Cason Wallace: A
Wallace had 10 points, three rebounds and three steals in the first half. He hit a pair of corner threes and chased down a loose ball before slicing through the middle of Denver’s defense for a layup.
And when Lu Dort was on the bench, it was Wallace who made life tough for Jamal Murray.
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Turnovers: C
The Thunder’s edge in the turnovers battle has been consistent throughout the series. Until Thursday.
OKC had three fewer turnovers (11) than Denver (14), but points off turnovers was tied 17-17.
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Julian Strawther: A
Was he the most impactful Gonzaga man on the floor?
That’s probably too far — Chet Holmgren had 19 points, 11 rebounds and was a plus-three in his 30 minutes — but Strawther was huge off the bench for Denver. He scored 15 points and connected on three of his four 3-pointers.
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May 15, 2025; Denver, Colorado, USA; Denver Nuggets guard Julian Strawther (3) controls the ball as forward Peyton Watson (8) screens against Oklahoma City Thunder guard Alex Caruso (9) in the fourth quarter during game six of the second round for the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images
Denver playoff environment: B+
I didn’t bring my decibel meter, but I don’t think the Denver crowd brought quite as much juice as the Paycom Center patrons.
Make no mistake, though. It was loud, and Ball Arena was packed.
Fans were given free towels to wave around. Free T-Shirts > towels.
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Thunder 3-point shooting: F
The road shooting woes continued.
OKC shot 11-of-40 (28%) from deep. The starting lineup was 6-of-22. Chet Holmgren and Lu Dort combined to shoot 4-of-14 from 3-point range.
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Aaron Wiggins was 0-of-4 from three. Isaiah Joe was 0-of-2 in his eight minutes.
Joe Mussatto is a sports columnist for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Joe? Email him at jmussatto@oklahoman.com. Support Joe’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.
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This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Julian Strawther, foul trouble spell trouble for Thunder vs Nuggets