Spurs at Nuggets
The San Antonio Spurs forced a Game 7 but the Denver Nuggets figure they have the edge because Saturday's decisive game is in their home facility. Denver was an NBA-best 34-7 at home in the regular season and hopes to cash in on earning homecourt advantage for the Western Conference first-round series.
The second-seeded Nuggets were unable to clinch on Thursday in San Antonio as they lost 120-103 but now have the friendly fans on their side. "We worked hard to get homecourt advantage to go home and play a Game 7,” Denver coach Michael Malone told reporters after Game 6. “We had the best home record in the NBA this year, so that's what we're looking forward to." The seventh-seeded Spurs came through with their backs against the wall and shooting guard DeMar DeRozan said it was due to a more forceful approach. "They've been great at throwing a punch at us and running away with it," DeRozan told reporters. "We tried to sustain that and understand whatever they do we have to match it, be more aggressive, understand we have to keep our rhythm, being aggressive on both ends and we did that."
TV: 10 p.m. ET, TNT, Altitude (Denver), FS Southwest (San Antonio)
ABOUT THE SPURS: San Antonio is looking to avoid its second straight first-round exit and it staved off elimination in impressive fashion in Game 6 when it shot 57.1 percent from the field and committed just eight turnovers. "We had a lot of people participate," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich told reporters afterward. "Lot of people came and had good games. I think the Nuggets have had that pretty regularly and we had that (in Game 6), so, that was great to see." DeRozan was an efficient 12-of-16 shooting while recording 25 points, seven rebounds and seven assists and power forward LaMarcus Aldridge had team highs of 26 points and 10 rebounds.
ABOUT THE NUGGETS: The postseason has been a coming-out party for All-Star center Nikola Jokic and he established a franchise playoff record with 43 points in Game 6, surpassing the 42 scored by Hall of Famer Alex English in 1983. Jokic, who made 19-of-30 shots on Thursday, is averaging 23.5 points, 11.7 rebounds and nine assists with five double-doubles in the series. Denver's 3-point shooting (6-of-24) and its bench (13 points on 5-of-24 shooting) were liabilities in the Game 6 loss.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Spurs won Game 1 in Denver, 101-96.
2. Nuggets PG Jamal Murray is averaging 18.3 points in the series but Thursday's 7-of-18 shooting effort was his third below 40 percent in that span.
3. San Antonio backup SF Rudy Gay scored a series-best 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting after averaging six points on 7-of-33 shooting over the previous four games.