Thursday night, the OKC Thunder will look to become the third team in this year's second round to punch their ticket to the conference finals.
The Indiana Pacers accomplished such a feat via a 114-105 win over the Cavaliers on Tuesday, while the Timberwolves clinched their second consecutive trip to round three on Wednesday.
Now, it's Oklahoma City's turn to try and flip the page on the conference semifinals, though, in order for them to do so, they must come in with a strong sense of urgency and, above all else, not get too comfortable with their current lead in their respective series.
In other words, they must look to the New York Knicks' shortcomings against the Boston Celtics in their latest Game 5 bout as something of a vicarious learning experience.
Thunder must play with desperation in order to win Game 6 vs Nuggets
Like the Thunder heading into Thursday's matchup against the Nuggets, New York had an opportunity to put the kibosh on their semifinal series against the championship-tested Celtics while on the road.
Unfortunately for them, things did not go according to plan, as Boston played with aggression and resilience from start to finish, coming away with a blowout 127-102 win and, in turn, forcing a Game 6 on Friday.
Following the contest, Knicks wing Mikal Bridges perfectly summed up the reasoning for their loss on the night and, ultimately, keeping the series going longer than many believed it should have, as he stated: "We just got to play desperate, I don't think we did that."
Without a doubt, this quote is what should be ringing through the ears of all Thunder players heading into Game 6.
Though OKC may be the number one seed in the league and hold a 3-2 lead over the Nuggets in their best-of-seven showdown, Denver is far from a cakewalk matchup and has proven more than capable of overcoming serious adversities.
Over the last six years, the ball club has managed to fight its way back from multiple playoff deficits, even seeing two series wins after starting out in a 1-3 hole.
Through five games played in this series alone, the Nuggets have already established themselves as a real challenge for Oklahoma City on a nightly basis, especially when playing out in Ball Arena, the location of Game 6.
Because of all this, even though the Thunder may be close to the point where they can almost taste their first conference finals berth in nearly a decade, they need to play with the type of desperation that Bridges admitted the Knicks did not come in with.
Especially considering the T-Wolves are already bound to have several days of much-needed rest heading into the next round of the postseason, Oklahoma City cannot afford to now start playing with their food.
Thursday night is undoubtedly a must-win game, and the Thunder need to play with the desperation of a team that fully understands this.