On Saturday, the Denver Nuggets kept their season alive in Game 4 of the first round of the NBA playoffs against the Los Angeles Clippers. With the score tied at 99, center Nikola Jokic tried to win the game with a step-back 3-pointer over Ivica Zubac and Kawhi Leonard. However, his shot was way off and missed the entire rim. Fortunately for the Nuggets, forward Aaron Gordon was there to save the day.
Gordon caught the ball and slammed it just before the buzzer. It was the first buzzer-beating dunk in playoff history. The Nuggets had a 101-99 win to make the series 2-2. After the game, the former Slam Dunk contest runner-up was asked about his thoughts on winning the game for Denver.
“It’sa nice pass,” Gordon said while Jokic sat beside him.
Jokic couldn’t do anything but agree with Gordon’s answer.
The media confirmed with the three-time MVP if it was a shot. However, Jokic said that it wasn’t intended for his frontcourt mate.
“No. No, it wasn’t,” Jokic revealed.
Aaron Gordon: “It was a nice pass.” 😉 pic.twitter.com/1gWT07nHAq
— DNVR Nuggets (@DNVR_Nuggets) April 27, 2025
Whether it was intended to be a pass for Gordon or not, it helped the Nuggets secure a win. Jokic was also asked what he thought when he released his game-winning attempt.
“This is gonna be bad,” Jokic admitted.
The seven-time All-Star further explained his thought process on the shot attempt. According to Jokic, he didn’t want to give the Clippers another chance to hold the ball, which would’ve allowed L.A. to win the game.
“To be honest, I didn’t want to give them another enough time to shoot the ball. In my mind, I just wanted wait [for the] last second and just jack it. But I did a couple [of] dribbles and that was a mistake.”
While Jokic missed the last-second shot, he did most of the work for the Denver Nuggets. He had 36 points, 21 rebounds and eight assists on 56 percent from the field.
Denver Nuggets’ head coach saw something different in how his players performed
Credit: Getty Images
In Game 2, the Denver Nuggets suffered a tough 117-83 loss. After the game, the team’s physicality was what head coach David Adelman focused on during their film session on Friday. On Saturday, the fruit of his hard work was seen in the players, and he credited them for bringing a tough, physical showing against the Clippers.
“Today was completely different,” Adelman said. “I saw something in the eyes of our players. You saw the physicality early in the game… challenging them, we had to challenge them.”
David Adelman:
“When you lose a game like you did in game 3, you don’t just lose on the scoreboard, you feel like you got punked…we had to respond.”
“Today was completely different. I saw something in our players' eyes.”
Full Presser 🔽 pic.twitter.com/aP293dT7b7
— DNVR Nuggets (@DNVR_Nuggets) April 27, 2025
The Nuggets will return to Denver for Game 4 in front of their home crowd. They’ll try to protect their home floor and secure a win over L.A. to take over the series.
For other sports-related content:
Follow me on X at @BarbecueBro, and follow us at @HardwoodHeroics and @GridironHeroics. You can also reach out to Reign Amurao via email at [email protected]. To read more of our articles and keep up to date on the latest sports news, click here!
Reign also writes NBA and WNBA news updates on Sportskeeda. He started as a feature writer for AirAlamo, an NBA website that covers the San Antonio Spurs. Some of his work can also be seen on Valley of the Suns, a Phoenix Suns-centric website, where he served as a contributing writer.
