By Johnny Askounis/ [email protected]
Behind a late rally, the Denver Nuggets prevailed, 121-119, against the Oklahoma City Thunder in Paycom Center on Monday.
Digging their way out of a 14-point hole, Aaron Gordon completed a comeback by tucking in a three-pointer with 2.8 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, sending the visitors to a 1-0 lead in the Western Conference Semifinals of the 2025 NBA Playoffs presented by Google.
“He had big free throws before that and made both of them. He had a big box out on Caruso. And he made a really big shot for us,” Nikola Jokic praised his teammate in a postgame press conference, “He deserves it. He’s the soul of this team.”
In Game 1 of a best-of-seven series, the Serbian superstar went for 42 points with 15/29 from the field, including two three-pointers. He also grabbed 22 rebounds to go with six assists, two blocks, and one steal, lasting 42 minutes.
“I think on most of the nights, we are finding a way. Of course, we have a lot of games that we are not doing that and don’t look like that, but I think generally we know at least how to get the shot that we want or whatever, even against teams playing really really good on the defensive end,” he also talked about the team showing, “We’ve been through this, in this situation.”
Slovenian Vlatko Cancar and Croatian Dario Saric stayed on the bench for the team coached by David Adelman.
The starting center of the Thunder, German Isaiah Hartenstein tallied 12 points, nine rebounds, one block, and one assist, in just under 29 minutes. French Ousmane Dieng and Belgian Ajay Mitchell did not play. Serbian Nikola Topic (left knee surgery) remained sidelined.