Nikola Jokić had 42 points and 22 rebounds, and Aaron Gordon hit a three-pointer in the closing seconds to give the Denver Nuggets a stunning 121-119 comeback win over Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday night.
The top-seeds, out of timeouts, missed a desperation heave as time expired in Game 1 of their Western Conference semi-final series.
Denver’s Russell Westbrook, who started his career with the Thunder, assisted on Gordon’s game-winner. It was his first playoff game in Oklahoma City as an opposing player.
Gordon finished with 22 points and 14 rebounds. Jamal Murray added 21 points for the fourth-seeded Nuggets, who stole the opener after closing out a seven-game series against the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday. Denver’s opportunity came after Oklahoma City’s Chet Holmgren missed two free throws with the Thunder leading by a point.
“When I shot it, did I know it was in?” Gordon said after the game. “I knew it wasn’t a miss.” He is no stranger to clutch plays in these playoffs: his buzzer-beater dunk was a highlights of Denver’s first-round series against the Los Angeles Clippers.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 33 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists for the Thunder, who hadn’t played in more than a week after sweeping the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round. Alex Caruso added 20 points, six assists and five steals.
Jokić picked up three fouls during a two-minute stretch in the third quarter after committing just one foul in the first half. He stayed in the game with the Thunder leading 73-64. The Nuggets closed the gap to 90-85 by the end of the third quarter.
With the Thunder leading 104-95 and just under seven minutes remaining, Jokić elbowed Lu Dort in the head on a drive, and the play was reviewed. The play was ruled a flagrant 1 on Jokić – his fifth foul – and Dort made two free throws.
Denver spent the rest of the game closing the gap.
