Aaron Gordon hits his 2nd game-winner of the 2025 playoffs to help Denver steal Game 1 on the road in Oklahoma City.
A dunk that beat the buzzer by a split second. A 3-pointer that stripped the aura of invincibility from the top seed in the West.
Is there any other manner in which Aaron Gordon can earn a team group hug? Any other way the Denver Nuggets can steal a crucial playoff game?
So stunning, so unexpected. That’s what Gordon and the Nuggets pulled off Monday, for the second time in roughly a week. Last time, it was Game 4 against the Clippers when Gordon’s dunk flipped that first-round series in Denver’s favor for good.
But this time … he gathered a pass from Russell Westbrook — whose redemption tour is going great — and with 2.8 seconds left calmly sank a 3-point shot along with all the Game 1 hopes in Oklahoma City.
Yes, the Thunder … remember them? Top seed in the West? Won 68 games? Had a 16-game cushion above the field in the standings? Swept Memphis in the first round?
It’s been a while since OKC shot hoops, but that’s the luxury the Thunder earned by taking care of business. They played only four games over 21 days, until Monday. They returned to work, only to look like a team that came off a seven-game series and ran out of gas.
And why would OKC foul up three points and Nikola Jokić not even on the floor, waiting at the scorer’s table?
Here are five takeaways from the Nuggets taking a 1-0 lead in the series with a 121-119 thriller:
1. Nuggets aren’t scared
This is most likely Oklahoma City’s toughest matchup of the playoffs. The Nuggets beat them twice during the season to split the series. They’ve got a championship bloodline and big-shot makers. Their star may not be announced as the 2025 Kia NBA MVP, but he is definitely the best player in basketball, and he demonstrated as much Monday.
Denver had all the answers in the moment of truth. That’s champion’s heart and mentality and experience beating all at once. Even before Gordon’s game-winner, the Nuggets had three chances in the final moments to take the lead.
This is Oklahoma City’s biggest hurdle — this nucleus hasn’t won anything special. And until the Thunder in the Shai Gilgeous-Alexander era at least reach the NBA Finals, their fortitude will remain an issue, as it was in Chet Holmgren’s missed free throws that opened the door for Denver.
As for the Nuggets, they didn’t get anything from Michael Porter Jr. (two points) and shot just 31% from deep, yet still found a way to win on the road. One very big reason was Gordon (22 points, 14 rebounds and a very big shot) of course, and …
2. Jokić was no joke
He’s simply astonishing and, right now, unstoppable. His performance — 42 points, 22 rebounds, six assists — was on another level once again. Oklahoma City has a major problem.
Remember, the Thunder signed Isaiah Hartenstein for this very reason, to add another layer of defense against Jokić. OKC threw him and Holmgren, a pair of seven-footers, his way. They managed to visibly frustrate Jokić at times, but he plowed through and conquered anyway.
Most impressive is how Jokić managed to play the last 18 minutes of the game in foul trouble and still finish off the Thunder, scoring 18 points in the fourth. And he didn’t fall in love with the 3-pointer, taking only six while attacking OKC in the paint, a superb strategy.
The Nuggets, fresh off their confidence-building seven-game slugfest with the Clippers, are rolling right now. That said …
Inside The NBA: David Adelman’s belief and Nikola Jokić’s leadership drive Nuggets success
3. Schedule remains sinister for Nuggets
The limbs and tendons throb this time of year under normal circumstances. And then there’s what the Nuggets are up against. Their pace was set weeks ago when the first round began, and it goes something like this: Play, rest, play, rest … with some travel tossed in.
Game 1 of this semifinal continued a challenging stretch for the Nuggets. It was their eighth game over 16 days, and they’ll play OKC every other night throughout this series unless it goes seven. In that case the Nuggets will have two days between games.
This probably wouldn’t be a task for deep teams such as the Cavs, Celtics and Thunder. But the Nuggets are pretty much going with six players, seven tops, in their rotation. Interim coach David Adelman expects his starters to grind 35-plus minutes a night; three played 40 or more minutes Monday. Their lack of quality depth doesn’t afford the luxury of in-game rest. This could ultimately catch up to them — as if they didn’t have enough issues against the top seed.
4. Will Russ get another last laugh?
He’s a basketball icon in OKC, even more than Kevin Durant. Whenever he checks into a game in this town, regardless of what uniform he’s wearing, he gets a standing ovation. And he returns the acknowledgement with a salute.
Russ has no hate for OKC. Yet they’re in the way. And so he’s amped to treat the Thunder like everyone else on his hit list. And what a Game 1 for him: 18 points off the bench for the Nuggets, lots of energy plays, and a steady and smooth feed to Gordon for the game-winning basket.
Russ is just days removed from his takedown of another former team, the Clippers; in the fourth quarter of the seventh game he dunked and intentionally hung on the rim to earn a technical, just to emphasize the victory.
Since leaving OKC, every other team that had Russ and dumped him is sitting at home, watching on TV: Rockets, Wizards, Lakers and Clippers. If you include the Jazz, who held his rights for a minute, that’s five teams tuning in to the Westbrook Playoff Tour.
5. Caruso comes through
The Thunder surrendered Josh Giddey last summer to get Alex Caruso and gave him a rich four-year, $81 million extension. Then they didn’t play him much all season. Caruso received the ninth-most minutes in the rotation, under 20 minutes a night, and came off the bench. Even for a team blessed with depth, it made you wonder.
Fine. They got him for this, the playoffs, hoping his defense would overcome streaky shooting. And suppose he supplied good defense and decent shooting? That’s what his Game 1 was all about, and given the circumstances, was perhaps his best with OKC.
He had 20 points in 26 minutes, draining five 3s. He made defensive plays — blocking Jokić from behind, a chasedown of Jamal Murray, and opened the second half with a strip of Murray and a layup. All told, Caruso had five steals along with a pair of blocks and six assists for the league’s top-rated defense.
But the Thunder had no defense for Aaron Gordon. Now they find themselves on the defensive, down 1-0 for Wednesday’s crucial Game 2 (9:30 ET, TNT).
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Shaun Powell has covered the NBA for more than 25 years. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on X.
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