With the Denver Nuggets’ season on the brink, the same old Nikola Jokic bat sign was answered by an unfamiliar face.
Julian Strawther, a reserve participant who principally will get mop-up obligation for the Nuggets and was in any other case a “did not play, coach’s decision” in 5 video games these playoffs, caught hearth for Denver within the third quarter of their 119-107 Sport 6 residence win over the Thunder.
Strawther checked into Thursday’s Sport 6 with 3:07 left within the third quarter and the Nuggets main, 80-78.
The second-year professional out of Gonzaga, drafted No. 29 within the 2023 NBA Draft by the Pacers, placed on a present, instantly grabbing an offensive rebound and drilling back-to-back 3-pointers that didn’t even hit the rim.
Strawther scored eight factors within the closing 97 seconds of the third quarter to assist the Nuggets construct a 90-82 lead after three quarters they usually by no means appeared again.
Strawther’s heroics had been a lot wanted for the Nuggets and ended the sport with a playoff career-high of 15 factors and shot 3 of 4 from past the arc.
“I think we all came through as a collective,” Strawther mentioned on the courtroom postgame. “We couldn’t do this one man at a time. We had to come together as a group … My guys found me in spots and I took shots I know I could make. I understood the assignment.”
He later mentioned within the locker room: “That’s the moments you dream of when you was a little kid.”
After Strawther nailed his second 3-pointer in lower than a minute, he high-fived a fan within the entrance row as he ran down the opposite finish of the courtroom.
His final 3-pointer gave the Nugget a 109-93 lead with lower than 4 minutes remaining and all however sealed the sport, eliciting a raucous ovation from the group.
“I don’t even remember, honestly,” he mentioned.
His standout efficiency is all of the extra memorable because it seemingly got here out of nowhere.
Strawther is averaging simply 8.8 minutes per sport in these playoffs, producing simply 4 factors per sport even together with Thursday’s outburst.
Denver now heads again to Oklahoma Metropolis for Sport 7 reverse a Thunder workforce that was a Goliath through the common season.
The No. 1 seed has proven cracks of their armor on this sequence towards the Nuggets, although, whereas Denver will hope to indicate that championship pedigree in a win-or-go-home sport.
