Kendra Andrews, ESPN January 5, 2024, 2:26 a.m. ET
SAN FRANCISCO – Denver Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon hit the ball to center Nikola Jokic with 3.6 seconds left in the fourth quarter against the Golden State Warriors and the score was tied.
Jokic completed three dribbles down the right side of the court and then fired a 39-foot 3-pointer over the head of Warriors center Kevon Looney.
From the Nuggets bench standpoint, it looked complete.
“When it left his hands, all the coaches in the background said, ‘This is online. This is going in,'” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said.
“I don’t know if it was something in my intuition or what, but I knew we weren’t going to go to OT. I knew Joker was going to hit that shot,” said forward Peyton Watson.
And he did it. Jokic's shot bounced off the glass and into the goal, sealing the Nuggets' 130-127 victory over the Warriors. Even Jokic knew it would go in.
“That was the last option on this play,” said Jokic. “I just took a recording. I think these shots are the easiest shots. You have no other options. When I felt it, I actually thought, 'Oh, I'm going to bench that.' You can see the trajectory of the ball and I just knew I was going to bench him.
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That was the key goal in a 25-4 run by the Nuggets in the final 6:45 minutes of the game, including a 13-0 run.
“The thing with Nikola, I love the fact that he gets in his spot, steps up and just shoots his shot,” Gordon said. “He doesn’t allow the defense to change anything. When he hits his shot, there’s always a chance he can make it.”
Jokic finished the game with 34 points on 13 of 15 shooting, 10 assists and nine rebounds. Gordon added 30 points on 11 of 17 shooting and guard Jamal Murray had 25 points on 8 of 16 shooting.
But entering the fourth quarter, Denver trailed by 18 points after the Warriors outscored the Nuggets 44-24 in the third quarter.
The Nuggets said they expected Golden State to play their best, especially after scoring 70 points in the first half, 42 of which came in the game – the most points the Warriors have allowed in the first half this season .
The Warriors' third quarter was one of their best periods of the season. Her 75% shooting percentage from the field was also her best mark ever in a quarter, and her +20 point differential was her second-best in a quarter (+21 in Game 3 against the Phoenix Suns on October 24).
Gordon said the Nuggets never hung their heads. They were positive during every timeout, pushing the “one stop, one point, one stop, one point” mentality until they were able to level the playing field.
Malone said he is most proud of that attitude and his team's ability to withstand Golden State's push.
“They were very aggressive in the third quarter and we couldn't cope with that. They had us on our heels,” Malone said. “I said, ‘Okay, enough is enough. We have our backs to the ball. We have to go now,' and then we became the aggressors. We became a team that made stops, pushed, attacked, we became more physical.”
“The most aggressive team will win. … I felt like when the game was on the line, we were the more aggressive team.”
This is the seventh time this season that the Warriors have had a lead of 10 or more points and still lost. It is the fourth time with a lead of at least 18 points.
“The defense was great in the fourth period,” Jokic said. “We didn’t want to give up. We could have easily had excuses to lose the game. … But the boys didn’t let their heads down, especially against this team.”
Arguably the most important defensive play of the night came just seconds before Jokic's game-winning shot.
With 6.2 seconds left, Murray intercepted a cross-court pass attempt from Warriors guard Stephen Curry.
“Jamal recognized this situation so well,” Jokic said.
Malone immediately tried to call a timeout, but only got it after Murray took a dribble. Therefore, the Nuggets were forced to take the ball out three quarters of the way down the court.
Malone had three plays in mind. The first should be Murray on the strong side on the sideline. The second was Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who took off in Jokic's halfcourt. The third was Gordon beating Jokic and hoping the two-time MVP and reigning Finals MVP could make something happen.
The last thing is what happened. But there was no panic, especially from Jokic, as he chased his shot to find it in less than four seconds.
“I wish I could tell you [that’s how I drew it up]. “But this is just a great player playing a great game,” Malone said. “Nikola lives for these moments. And it's great and a joy to watch a player of his talent go out and make the plays that he makes.”