The San Antonio Spurs weren’t about to go quietly in their first round series with the Denver Nuggets, delivering a dominating 120-103 win on Thursday to force a winner-take all game seven.
The Spurs kept their post season alive by shooting and rebounding their way to victory in game six at home after losing two straight in the series.
LaMarcus Aldridge poured in 26 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, and DeRozan added 25 points as the Spurs, who were the better team off the bench and down the stretch.
Rudy Gay added 19 points for the Spurs. Derrick White and Bryn Forbes scored 13 and 12 points, respectively, for San Antonio, the seventh seed in the West.
Nikola Jokic scored 43 points to set a Nuggets’ franchise playoff record in the loss.
The total was a career high for the Serb star. Jokic also grabbed 12 rebounds and recorded nine assists.
Denver survived the Spurs’ quick start and came back in the second quarter to take a brief 50-47 lead.
San Antonio led by five points to start the fourth, but scored the first eight points of the period to compile a 98-85 lead.
A three-pointer by Forbes as the shot clock ran down with 7:28 to play capped a 15-2 run and pushed the Spurs’ lead to 105-87, and Denver never got closer than 15 points the remainder of the game.
The result: San Antonio Spurs 120 (LaMarcus Aldridge 26) bt Denver Nuggets 103 (Nikola Jokic 43). Series tied 3-3.