Nuggets' Jamal Murray pours in 50 points again to top Jazz and force decisive Game 7

The bubble gets a Game 7.

For the first time in the 2020 NBA playoffs, a series is going the distance. The Denver Nuggets defeated the Utah Jazz 119-107 in Game 6 on Sunday to force a decisive Game 7 on Tuesday (8:30 ET, ABC).

Denver’s Jamal Murray continued his stellar play with a team-high 50 points, including 21 in the fourth quarter. It was his second 50-point game of the series, and he is the first player since Allen Iverson in 2001 to record three consecutive playoff games with at least 40 points, according to Elias Sports Bureau.

It was an emotional game for Murray, who wore custom-made sneakers with images of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. "These shoes mean a lot," Murray told told TNT. "You find things that hold value to you, things to fight for and we found something worth fighting for as the NBA as a collective unit and I use these shoes as a symbol to me to keep fighting all around the world. They give me a lot of power to keep fighting."

The Nuggets have never come back from a 3-1 deficit to win a series, but they will have a chance in the series finale. The winner will face the Los Angeles Clippers in the Western Conference finals.

Murray is a star: Murray is not a star in the making. He’s a flat-out star. Yes, there has been plenty of attention on Utah’s Donovan Mitchell. But Murray has established himself as one of the league’s top guards.

Murray, who shot 9-of-12 on 3s, scored 25 points in the first half and 25 in the second. In in the fourth quarter, he was 7-of-8 from the field and 5-of-5 on 3s and scored 12 consecutive Nuggets points late to keep Utah at arm’s length.

In his fourth season and second playoffs, Murray is averaging 34 points against the Jazz and has scored 50, 42 and 50 points in the past three games. He joins Iverson, Michael Jordan and Donovan Mitchell as the only players to have two 50-point games in a playoff series.

Nuggets withstand Utah’s hot start: The Jazz made their first seven shots, including three 3-pointers, and built a double-digit lead in the first quarter.

Just like in Game 5 when they trailed, the Nuggets could have folded when they fell behind 28-18 in the first quarter. Not only did they come back, they had their own double-digit lead, including 109-95 with 3:33 in the fourth quarter on a Murray 3-pointer.

Credit to the Nuggets for forcing a seventh game.

Donovan Mitchell hits 40 again: Mitchell’s star is well-established in the NBA universe. He recorded his fifth game with at least 30 points in the series, dropping in 44. He had 57 points in Game 1 and 50 in Game 4.

While Mitchell has been nearly unstoppable in this series, the Nuggets have found a way to limit other players and win the past two games.

Unsung contributions: Denver starting forward Jerami Grant had 18 points, including 12 on 3-pointers.

Denver guard Gary Harris hadn’t played since March 11 when the NBA suspended its season due to COVID-19. He missed the eight seeding games and first five playoff games against the Jazz with a strained right hip muscle. Though he wasn’t a factor offensively with just four points, Harris was plus-16 while on the court.

Denver’s bench scored just 14 points, but every player had positive contributions. Each Denver reserve was on the positive side of plus-minus, and every Jazz reserve was on the negative side.

Follow Jeff Zillgitt on Twitter @JeffZillgitt.