Thumbs Down, Season Up: Julian Strawther ignites Nuggets to Game 7

DENVER — If you’re a real Denver Nuggets fan, you’ll give this story a thumbs down.

Ball Arena hadn’t seen it in some time, but on Thursday, the gesture that means rejection for so many was a signal of success for Julian Strawther.

The second-year guard from Gonzaga went bananas in the second half of Game 6 against the Oklahoma City Thunder, scoring the Nuggets a 119-107 win and a Game 7 Sunday in the Sooner State. Strawther had eight points in the final 90 seconds of the third quarter to break the deadlock and give Denver a lead they would never relinquish.

“Those are the moments you dream of when you are a little kid,” Strawther said.” Coming into the game, having all the guys believing in you, finding you in your spots and being able to just make an impact on the game.”

Strawther wasn’t just cooking — he turned Ball Arena into a five-alarm fire, and the Thunder were the ones getting grilled. He added another seven critical points in the fourth quarter as he stayed on the floor to close his first playoff game. His last shot was his third 3-pointer — the dagger — giving the Nuggets a 109-93 lead, the magic number.

“I don’t even remember, honestly, it was just one — I don’t remember it, Mal, I don’t remember what happened,” Strawther said to Jamal Murray, who sits a few lockers down from him. “Honestly, I just wanted to share that moment, my brothers — we all got emotional because of it. It was the time out. Yeah, that’s a moment I’ll remember.”

Remember that shot or not, most at Ball Arena will now regard Strawther as some sort of folk hero.

A key Nuggets guard for most of the season, Strawther missed a month right at the end of the season with a left knee sprain. Strawther came back for the end of the regular season, but the chaotic push for the playoffs that included a coach firing meant the sophomore never had the chance to regain his rhythm. So he hadn’t gotten more than just a few minutes in any playoff game until Game 5, when he hit a moving 3-pointer and offered a flash of hope.

Game 6 was a surge of the future, perhaps — a future that felt like it wasn’t coming this spring. Strawther, known for scoring, had not tallied double figures in any game in three months. And the Nuggets had missed that spark, hitting nearly 20 fewer threes off the bench than the Thunder have in this series. Their bench issues were extremely pronounced in both Game 4 and Game 5, with little production and the starters getting fatigued because of it.

However, Strawther didn’t ride the bench — he slow-cooked on it. And when the timer went off on Thursday, he came out sizzling

“Stay ready, obviously understanding that there’s a night that I might may not check in at all, and there’s a night like tonight where he’s gonna ride with me and understand that I got it going and let me rock,” Strawther said of how interim head coach David Adelman has helped keep his head in it despite the lack of playing time. “Him having a transparent relationship through these playoffs, and I’m appreciative of him throwing me out there.”

GAME 6 HERO JULIAN STRAWTHER 🎯🔥

15 POINTS + 3 THREES IN 20 MINS pic.twitter.com/meBJgbNiWR

— House of Highlights (@HoHighlights) May 16, 2025

Strawther might’ve been the spark, but the fire spread fast. Denver’s stars didn’t just show up — they threw down like a team unwilling to see their season end.

Murray’s effort was unreal, playing through illness, scoring 25 points, including igniting the team early with 11 points in the first quarter. Murray added eight rebounds and seven assists. He wasn’t alone in stat-sheet-stuffing as Murray, Nikola Jokic and Christian Braun became the first trio since 1966 to each score 20-plus points, snag eight-plus boards, and toss five-plus assists in a playoff game. Jokic led the Nuggets with 29 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists. Braun added a feisty 23 points and 11 rebounds.

“Happy. Super happy man,” Murray said of his locker neighbor. “Because we all know what he’s capable of, he kind of needs to see the floor and get his rhythm, get some time in, not foul stuff like that. But you can see how he can impact the game real quick, and that high-pressure moment. So I was really good to see him catch the rhythm, show that emotion, and get everybody going. I really felt like he even when they came back or had a run like his energy really set the tone for us. Just build off that kind of energy. The crowd got into it and everything like that. So it was just, I think it was a snowball effect, and we all played better after that.”

It’s the second time Strawther had a huge moment in a do-or-die game at Ball Arena, hitting three triples for Gonzaga in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in 2023.

“It’s super fun, just the crowd is so engaged,” Strawther said of the Ball Arena faithful. “You go to other arenas and it’s a little different here, just the fans and how loud it gets. I mean, we’re truly thankful for our sixth man.”

The loudest moment of the season may have been Strawther’s three in the fourth quarter to send this series to Game 7 and back to the Sooner State. He never did give the thumbs down through all the hits, but Nuggets Nation knew what to do every time.

Strawther didn’t have that signature celebration back when he was a Bulldog or the hearts of Denver, but he does now. So go ahead, give this story a thumbs down — because Strawther was exactly the lift the Nuggets needed.

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