Three matchups the Nuggets must win to capture a Game 6 victory

SAN ANTONIO — You’d think that a small forward who’s playing heavy minutes in his first career playoff series and is tasked with guarding four-time All-Star DeMar DeRozan only two years removed from starring in Australia and New Zealand’s National Basketball League would feel a few nerves stepping out onto the floor under the brighter than usual postseason lights.

Torrey Craig insists that he hasn’t felt nervous throughout the Nuggets’ opening-round playoff series against the Spurs or at any point throughout a basketball career that’s taken him from South Carolina to Australia’s Gold Coast and now Denver. In fact, the only time he can remember feeling a bit anxious or tense was when he learned that he was going to be a father.

“When I found out my son’s mom was pregnant I got nervous,” Craig said.

Craig’s carried that confidence throughout the Nuggets’ opening-round series, first coming off the bench as a valuable defensive stalwart on Denver’s second unit and over the last two games as a starter. His main assignment is to make life difficult for DeRozan. He’s done just that. In Craig’s two starts, he’s held DeRozan to 19 and 17 points after the Spurs’ high-scoring wing began the series by scoring 18, 31 and 25 points over the first three games.

Craig will need to keep DeRozan in check again for the Nuggets to capture Game 6 and clinch their first playoff series victory since 2009. Here are the other battlegrounds Denver must capture Thursday.

Gary Harris vs. Derrick White

The lineup change that promoted Craig to the Nuggets’ starting small forward and in tune allowed Gary Harris to move off of DeRozan and onto Derrick White completely changed the momentum of Denver’s first-round series.

Through the first three games of the series, White torched the Nuggets and mainly Murray. The 24-year-old played the best game of his career in Game 3 when he tallied a career-high 36 points on 15-of-21 shooting. But Harris shut him down in Games 4 and 5, and in the Nuggets’ win Thursday at Pepsi Center completely took White out of the game.

When White drove to the rim in Game 5, he couldn’t get off a clean look. For most of the night, he couldn’t even get close enough to the basket to think about shooting.

White is shooting 8 of 19 (42%) from the field over the last two games. He shot a combined 29 of 42 (69%) in the first three games of the season. When White’s been effective on offense, the Spurs have been in a position to win. When he’s been taken out of the game, San Antonio’s offense struggles to post numbers.

Nuggets’ fast break vs. Spurs’ plodding pace

In all five matchups this series, the team with the more fast break points has found itself on the right side of the scoreboard.

• Game 1: Spurs win 101-96 (San Antonio outscores Denver 2-0 in fast break points)
• Game 2: Nuggets win 114-105 (Denver outscores San Antonio 21-6 in fast break points)
• Game 3: Spurs win 118-108 (San Antonio outscores Denver 21-19 in fast break points)
• Game 4: Nuggets win 117-103 (Denver outscores San Antonio 15-12 in fast break points)
• Game 5: Nuggets win 108-90 (Denver outscores San Antonio 17-8 in fast break points)

That’s not a surprise. The Spurs want to play a plodding half-court style, and while the Nuggets also played at a slow pace throughout the regular season (26th overall), Denver’s athleticism has given San Antonio trouble in transition.

“We’re the younger team. We’re the faster team, and we’re using that to our advantage right now,” Murray said.

The Spurs will look to turn Game 6 into a half-court affair, display their physicality and try bog Denver’s offense down. The Nuggets and Murray have to look to push the ball every chance they get in Game 6.