There was no time for rest for the Denver Nuggets after beating the Los Angeles Clippers in their first round series. Just 48 hours later the Nuggets found themselves facing the top seeded Oklahoma City Thunder. It was a grueling fight for a full forty-eight minutes but the Nuggets never gave in. Nikola Jokic had a massive game and out dueled fellow MVP finalist Shai Gilgeous Alexander but it was Aaron Gordon with the late game playoff heroics once again. He hit the game winning three to complete a Nuggets comeback and get Denver a 121-119 victory.
The Nuggets kept the Thunder off the scoreboard early and got a small lead to start the game. They kept in front by a bucket or two behind Jamal Murray and Jokic leading the offense. OKC got a highlight block from Chet Holmgren and kept pace with Denver as the quarter progressed. The Nuggets went on a 7-0 run but then turned it over and couldn’t put any separation between them and the Thunder. Oklahoma went on a run themselves and back to back buckets by Chet tied it up at 24. The Nuggets offense went flat to close the quarter but so did the Thunder’s. After one the score was 27-26 OKC.
DENIED BY CHET 🚫
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) May 6, 2025
Denver opened the second quarter about as bad as they could with fouls, turnovers and easy buckets for the Thunder. The lead got up to nine after just over a minute. The Nuggets couldn’t find any offense so Jokic came back in early but the play was still sloppy. There were some inexplicable lapses and the lead swelled to double digits. Jokic was trying to will Denver back in it despite the refs allowing him to get mauled in the paint. He didn’t get much help from his teammates either. However, Gordon absolutely posterized Holmgren for an and-1 which got the lead down to eleven with just over two minutes to go. Denver closed strong but still trailed 60-50 at half.
AARON GORDON THROWDOWN THROUGH CONTACT 😱 pic.twitter.com/fqlKwBMhMu
— NBA (@NBA) May 6, 2025
The Thunder came out of the locker room with energy and grew the lead past a dozen again. Denver responded through Jokic and Christian Braun to get within eight. The Thunder stopped the momentum there, Holmgren was giving Jokic trouble on defense and Shai hit a three to put the lead right back up near a dozen. Jokic kept pushing and got a little help from Gordon and Murray drawing fouls. It sparked a 9-0 run to pull the Nuggets back within five. Alex Caruso hit two threes to stop Denver’s charge but the Nuggets energy had picked up considerably. They pulled back within five in the final minute of the quarter but missed a couple opportunities (and the refs swallowed their whistle on what would have been Chet’s fifth foul) to get closer and headed to the fourth down 90-85.
Brodie and-1️⃣ pic.twitter.com/qTWGgYvkoE
— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) May 6, 2025
Caruso continued to be everywhere on the court to open the final frame and the Thunder in general had more urgency. They pushed the lead back up to ten and forced a Denver timeout to get Jokic back in the game. The Nuggets kept fouling though and seemed to be stuck trailing right around ten points. Jokic got called for a flagrant foul after elbowing Lu Dort in the head which was also Nikola’s fifth foul with more than six minutes still to go. Denver wasn’t going to go away easily though, they were back within seven a couple minutes later and both of OKC’s bigs were in foul trouble right along with Jokic. The Thunder got a couple buckets got stall the Nuggets progress once again and time started to become a factor. Jokic smartly worked for fouls to get points while the clock was stopped but the Nuggets were stuck on the seven point hump. They kept pushing, kept getting fouls and were within four with a minute and a half to go. They got a chance to take the lead with less than thirty to go and down one but couldn’t convert. The Thunder were cowardly after making free throws to up three. Instead of letting the Nuggets attempt a three they just immediately fouled to send the Nuggets to the line. The basketball gods did not like that. Eventually Chet ended up on the line, missed both free throws and AG buried a three in their face anyways. Nuggets win a thriller 121-119.
AG CALLED GAME 🔥💯
DENVER ENDS THE GAME ON A 15-4 RUN TO WIN. https://t.co/s9ikSsHFuZ pic.twitter.com/pXvKfFiz3L
— NBA (@NBA) May 6, 2025
