23 years old, 24 years old! The two Nuggets surprises rise to 38+13, Jokic s perfect match is only 5.64 million.

The Nuggets withstood the Thunder at home and defeated the Thunder 119-107 in the Western Conference semi-finals, tying the series score 3-3. They successfully extended their lives and will play a tiebreak battle. The two new stars of the Nuggets played the role of the surprise in this game. Sophomore Strouser scored 15 points and 2 rebounds, and third-year player Braun performed well, scoring 23 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals and 1 block.

If these two new stars did not stand up, the Nuggets would likely lose the sixth game and ended in the Western Conference semi-finals. "We have a player who stood up tonight. He should be praised for his 15 points tonight. In addition, he played well on the defensive end. This is very important." Nuggets coach Adelman praised Strauser after the game.

Strauser's 15 points set a new high in his personal playoff career. Strauser was the No. 29 pick in the first round of 2023. He has become an important rotation player in the Nuggets in the regular season this season. At 1.98 meters tall, he averaged 9.0 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game, shooting percentage of 43.2%, three-point shooting percentage of 34.9%, and free throw shooting percentage of 82.2%.

In the playoffs, the Nuggets compressed the rotation players, and Strauser fell out of the rotation for a while. He played in the first round of the series, and he only played in trash time in three of the games. He played for a total of 16 minutes and only scored a three-pointer. In the second round of the series, Westbrook's offensive feeling also declined due to a shoulder injury. Nuggets coach Adelman had to increase Strauser's playing time. Strauser scored 2 points in G1 in the Western Conference semi-finals, scored 9 points in the second game, did not play in the third game, played in the fourth game without score, and played in the fifth game with 3 points and 2 rebounds in 10 minutes.

In this game, Strauser finally stood up. In the third quarter, when Strauser came on the court, the Nuggets led by 2 points 80-78. He scored two three-pointers in less than 2 minutes and scored an all-out layup, helping the Nuggets enter the final quarter with an 8-point advantage of 90-82.

No one expected that this sophomore player could break the deadlock in such a critical game. Strauser relied on four free throws and a three-pointer in the fourth quarter to add 7 points, helping the Nuggets lead by 16 points with 3 minutes and 56 seconds left in the game, basically securing the victory.

"It is not easy for our team to get here. I understand what my mission is today, and we need to do it again in Monday's game. We can't win the game with just one person's efforts. We need to win the game on Sunday," Strauser said. The Nuggets and Thunder's tiebreak battle will take place on May 19. Strauser hopes to make another contribution in the tiebreak battle.

Jamal Murray also praised Strauser after the game, saying: "I am super happy for him. We all know his abilities. You can see how he quickly plays the game in high pressure moments. His vitality really sets the tone for us. Everyone realizes this and we can continue to move forward on this basis." The performance of

third-year player Braun is also very critical. Braun made 8 of 14, 3 of 6 of 3-pointers, and 4 of 4 free throws. He performed very efficiently on the offensive end. According to statistics, Braun (24 years old and 29 days) scored at least 20 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals in a single playoff game, making him the youngest in the Nuggets' history.

Braun was the No. 21 pick in the first round of 2022. He followed the Nuggets to win the championship in the rookie season. This season he became the Nuggets starting shooting guard and made huge progress. In the regular season, Braun averaged 15.4 points, 5.2 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.1 steals per game, shooting percentage of 58.0%, three-point shooting percentage of 39.7%, and free throw percentage of 82.7%.

In the first round of the playoffs, Braun averaged 12.6 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game. In the Western Conference semi-finals, he averaged 11.7 points, 7.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.2 blocks per game. His performance was very comprehensive. Braun is the Nuggets' outside defensive player, and he also needs to take into account both scoring.

In this game, Braun played the data of the All-Around Warrior. He gave Jokic and Murray a lot of support on the offensive end. If Braun hadn't held on in the first half, the Nuggets might have fallen behind a lot and their mentality might have been different. The tiebreak battle will be held at the Thunder's home court, and the Nuggets still need these two young players to provide firepower support to the Yomu combination. Braun’s annual salary this season is only $3.09 million, Strauser’s annual salary is $2.55 million, and the two’s annual salary is only $5.64 million, which is really worth the money.