Spurs-Denver Nuggets first-round playoff series at a glance
(Best-of-seven series tied 3-3)
Game 1: Spurs 101, Nuggets 96, Saturday, Denver
Game 2: Nuggets 114, Spurs 105, Tuesday, Denver
Game 3: Spurs 118, Nuggets 108, Thursday, San Antonio
Game 4: Nuggets 117, Spurs 103, Saturday, San Antonio
Game 5: Nuggets 108, Spurs 90, Tuesday, Denver
Game 6: Spurs 120, Nuggets 103, Thursday, San Antonio
Game 7: Spurs at Nuggets, Saturday, 9 p.m.
SAN ANTONIO – Down 3-2 in their first-round playoff series against the Denver Nuggets, the Spurs said they planned to leave it all on the floor in Game 6 on Thursday night at the AT&T Center.
With their season on the line, the Silver and Black dug deep and rolled to a 120-103 victory to force a Game 7 on Saturday in Denver. Tipoff is set for 9 p.m. at the Pepsi Center.
The winner will advance to play the Portland Trail Blazers in the Western Conference semifinals.
"We had a lot of people participate tonight," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "A lot of people came and had good games. I think the Nuggets have had that pretty regularly, and we had that tonight, so that was great to see."
Forward LaMarcus Aldridge had a double-double with 26 points and 10 rebounds and guard DeMar DeRozan scored 25 points on 12-of-16 shooting to lead the Spurs, who had lost the last two games of the series after going up 2-1.
Forward Rudy Gay broke out of a scoring slump in the nick of time for the Silver and Black, coming off the bench to score 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting, including 3 of 3 from the three-point line.
The Nuggets lost despite getting a stellar performance from center Nikola Jokic, who finished with a career-high 43 points. He had 17 of his 27 second-half points in the third quarter, when he hit 8 of 9 shots.
Jokic also had 12 rebounds and nine assists, falling just shy of his second triple-double of the series. Tormenting the Silver and Black with his shooting and inside game, Jokic nailed 19 of 30 field-goal attempts.
San Antonio outscored Denver 56-43 in the second half after leading by four at intermission. Ahead 90-85 after three quarters, the Spurs opened the fourth period with a 22-4 run to take control of the game. The Silver and Black led by as many as 21 points in the final quarter.
Gay had struggled mightily since finishing the series opener with 14 points. He had scored only 24 points in the ensuing four games, shooting 21.2 percent overall (7-33) and 16.6 percent (1-6) from beyond the arc. He hit rock bottom in Game 4, scoring just two points, and going 0-7 from the field overall and 0-1 from beyond the three-point line.
Gay looked more relieved than happy after the game.
"Man, it's been a tough series for me," he said. "It felt good to see a couple go in. Hopefully, this will jump-start the next game. I'm just continuing to be aggressive and try to help the team in all aspects.
Gay addressed his shooting slump when he met with reporters after the game.
"It's tough . . . it happens, it happens," he said. "I don't think it's ever happened this bad to me, but it just made me tougher, made me a better basketball player. I can learn from what I've done and help this team even more."
Gay was asked what the victory says about the Spurs, who looked lethargic in a 108-90 loss Tuesday night in Denver.
"It just shows how resilient we are," he said. "We let a couple go. I don't think anybody in this locker room thought we were down or ready to go home. Even still, we're packing for a week. We're trying to go to Portland after this. We're confident and we're ready to go."
Derrick White (13) and Bryn Forbes (12) rounded out San Antonio's double-figure scoring.
Jamal Murray and Gary Harris scored 16 and 14 points, respectively, and Paul Millsap added 12 to complete Denver's double-digit scoring.
The Spurs shot 57.1 percent overall (48-84) for the game and were 10 of 24 from the three-point line for 41.7 percent. San Antonio was 4 of 9 from beyond the arc in the fourth quarter.
The Nuggets made 44 of 96 attempts from the field for 45.8 percent and were only 25 percent (6-24) from the three point line.
DeRozan scored 18 of his 25 points in the second half, nailing 9 of 10 shots. He carried the Spurs in the third quarter, finishing with 12 points on 6-of-7 shooting. The Silver and Black fed off DeRozan's big third quarter to seize the momentum with their fast start in the fourth period.
"They've been great at throwing a punch at us and running away with it," DeRozan said. "We tried to sustain that, understand whatever they do, we have to match it, be more aggressive and understand that we have to keep our rhythm going, being aggressive on both ends. We did that tonight."
Up by four at the half, the Spurs edged the Nuggets 26-25 in the third quarter to take a 90-85 lead into the fourth period.
Aldridge scored 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting, including 1 of 2 from the three-point line, to lead the Spurs to a 64-60 lead at the half. Gay had 14 off the bench in the first half. He hit 5 of 7 shots, 2 of 2 from beyond the arc.
The Silver and Black shot 58.1 percent overall (25-43) and 50 percent (5-10) from the three-point line in the first two quarters.
Jokic led the Nuggets in the first half with 16 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists. Harris (11), Murray (11) and Millsap (10) also scored in double digits.
Denver made 24 of 52 shots (46.2 percent) from the field in the first half. The Nuggets were 4 of 14 (28.6 percent) from long distance.
Denver finished with a decisive edge inside, outscoring San Antonio 72-36 in the paint. But the Nuggets went just 8 of 31 from outside the paint.