The San Antonio Spurs have forced a Game 7 against the Denver Nuggets thanks to a stellar effort by their bench players, spearheaded by Rudy Gay.
On Thursday, the Gregg Popovich-led Spurs put on a surgical performance to beat the second-seeded Nuggets, 120-103. Gay came off the bench and logged in 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting across 28 minutes.
LaMarcus Aldridge had a double-double for San Antonio: 26 points and 10 rebounds. DeMar DeRozan added 25 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists. As a team, the Spurs shot the lights out: 57.1 percent from the field, 41.7 from downtown, and 82.4 percent from the free throw line.
The @spurs stay alive and force Game 7!
Game 7: Saturday (4/27), 10pm/et, TNT#GoSpursGo #NBAPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/ubRb9Fa2R3
— NBA (@NBA) April 26, 2019
The Nuggets, meanwhile, collapsed in the fourth quarter and were outscored by the Spurs, 30-18. Nikola Jokic's career night was put to waste. He scored a playoff career-high 43 points, to go along with 12 rebounds and nine assists. Jamal Murray scored 16 points.
A deciding Game 7 will take place on Saturday in Denver. The series has revealed the Nuggets' relative playoff inexperience, which analysts believe will become a liability once they go deeper into the playoffs. The current Nuggets squad hasn't won a single playoff series. In fact, this is the organization's first playoff appearance since the 2012-2013 season. Will this become a liability on Saturday? Or will Mike Malone and crew have something hidden in their sleeves?
The Spurs will count on Gregg Popovich to lead them from the bench, but leadership from the bench in Game 7 will mean a lot more if the Spurs' bench players can deliver another performance on par with Game 6.
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