This Nuggets-Thunder series is shaping up to be something special. Is it too premature to call Denver OKC’s bogey team? No one even expected them to have a chance. Instead, they’ve forced Game 7 with a 119-107 win at the Ball Arena last night. This is what happens when a team finds its footing at the right time. We all expected Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray to show up. But it’s the emergence of Aaron Gordon and Christian Braun that’s come big.

Braun became the youngest player in franchise history to record a 20/10/5/3 stat line in the playoffs. And how? According to him, it’s due to the Nuggets’ specialty of playing when their backs are against the wall. The Thunder had the chance to finish the series, coming into Game 6 with a 3-2 lead. But the Nuggets have Aaron Gordon to thank for two of those three games, coming up with two huge game-winners with just seconds left on the clock.

His secret? The same as Braun’s. “Yeah, just the fact that we’ve I feel like we’ve been playing better each game. You know, so. We’ll build off this game and go out there and execute,” said Gordon in his postgame press. While that claim has shown to be true, their magic man Jamal Murray would rather not even see the lads in this situation.

“I‘d rather be up.  I mean, we’ve had our fair share. It just adds to the character that we build and experience, chemistry, the trust- another big word. I just think with that being said, we can do a lot better job of being the first to throw the punches and just be up,” said Murray in his postgame interview.

Every great championship-winning team takes control. You can only be the greatest if you’re proactive rather than reactive. So while the Nuggets’ DNA might be to come out fighting, Murray wants more proactivity from the locker room. They might disagree on this. But one thing they can agree on is going headfirst against OKC with 100% confidence, especially after two days of rest.

“That mindset of wanting to go back to OKC, which is crazy, and finish the game out there. We used the two days off as motivation to go out there and play hard today. So that’s good,” said Murray.

But Denver face a completely new situation heading into Game 7. How will they deal with playing Game 7 at the Paycom Center, in front of the OKC ultras?

Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray play an away Game 7 for the first time in 5 years

What a tiring playoffs it’s been for David Adelman in his first playoffs ever as a coach. Denver has reached a Game 7 in both of their playoff series this season, but this one has uncertainty around it. They’re victims of their own success. For the first time in 5 seasons, they face an away crowd for Game 7 in a playoff series. The last one ended in a 104–89 against the Clippers in the Western Semis in the 2019-20 season. Can they repeat the same at Paycom? Regardless, Murray is going to have his fun with it.

“It’s a lot of fun because there’s no crowd for you. You gotta stay together, you gotta bring your own energy, you gotta go in the right mindset and I think it’s just gonna force us to be more together, build more trust and stuff like that. So I think it’s a great opportunity. We’ve beat them there- game one… I think it’s going be good challenge. It’ll be fun. The crowd will be rocking. Energy will be high. So this will be a fun matchup and a fun environment as well,” said Murray, aiming for a repeat of Game 1.

A serial-MVP winner like Nikola Jokic thrives under pressure. His 29/14/8 double-double went under the radar – which is a testament to his quality. But an inconsistent Nuggets have to emulate Game 1 vibes at the Paycom on Sunday. Murray’s magic and Joker’s antics will come in huge.

Still, if they can repeat their heroics from Game 1, there should be minimal issues. Fans will be hoping that is exactly what happens, and Denver is able to traverse through now of their trickiest encounters in years, with flying colors.