Despite holding a late lead, the Denver Nuggets fell to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday night, falling behind 3-2 in the Western Conference semifinals in the process.
Nikola Jokic started to look more like his usual self, scoring 44 points and securing 15 rebounds.
For Nuggets fans, it was nice to see that his shooting stroke had finally returned. In Game 3, he shot 8-for-25 from the field and a horrid 0-for-10 from deep.
He went 5-for-7 from the field on Tuesday night, trying to will his team to a series lead, but the Thunder proved to be too much to overcome.
Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray (27)
Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray (27)
Jamal Murray makes promise before Game 6
Jamal Murray poured in 28 points, the most he's scored in a game in this series, but he wasn't efficient in doing so, shooting 10-for-27 and 3-for-13 from deep.
However, Murray isn't lacking confidence, as he delivered a promise after their Game 5 loss.
"We're going to go play the game in Denver, and then we get to come back," said Murray.
Not much has been going right for the Nuggets in this series, but still have managed to pull out two wins.
It also hasn't helped that Michael Porter Jr., arguably the team's best shooter, is dealing with a shoulder injury.
After averaging 18.2 points per game in the regular season, Porter Jr. has now gone back-to-back games with the same horrendous shooting numbers.
In each of the last two games, he's finished exactly 1-for-7 from the field and 0-5 from three.
Without Porter Jr.'s shooting threat, to at least keep the defense honest, the Thunder have been able to take full advantage. But if it's a game like in Game 3, when Porter Jr. scored 21 points on 7-of-10 shooting, that could be all they need to force a Game 7.