INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Immediately after Aaron Gordon changed the Nuggets-Clippers series with the first postseason buzzer-beating dunk in NBA history, he turned and sprinted through the Intuit Dome, right arm raised to the rafters, like the best running back in the National Football League.
He hurriedly chest-bumped Jamal Murray while bursting past his point guard. Peyton Watson attempted a hug, but he had no chance of stopping Gordon’s 6-foot-8, 240-pound frame. By the time Gordon turned around, he had sprinted off the court and was halfway up the ramp to the Denver Nuggets’ locker room, with almost the entire Denver Nuggets roster giddily chasing after his swaying dreadlocks.
Gordon’s dunk gave the Nuggets a 101-99 win over the LA Clippers to end Saturday afternoon’s thrilling Game 4 and even a series destined to go long at 2-2. The official’s review and announcement that the basket occurred just a tenth of a second before the buzzer sounded took several heart-stopping minutes. But in the end, Gordon, in many ways the guts of the Nuggets’ roster, came up with one of the most memorable buzzer-beaters in NBA history, and a play Denver fans will be talking about for generations to come.
In many ways, this moment couldn’t have happened to a more deserving player. Gordon has had as difficult a calendar year as can be imagined. Off the court, he suffered through the tragedy of his brother, Drew, dying in a car accident. On the court, he’s dealt with a strained calf that caused him to miss 31 games and that he still hasn’t been able to shake. Despite it all, Gordon has been one of Denver’s most valuable and resourceful players. When the Nuggets needed him most, he was there.
“I thought the game was over, so I was just trying to get off the court and into the locker room,” Gordon said. “It was so close. When it comes down to it, I’m just happy that we won the game. I thought we showed a lot of heart today.”
Without Gordon’s heroics, the Nuggets would have been in danger of falling into a 3-1 hole they probably could not have overcome. The game wasn’t supposed to end with a buzzer-beater and one of the most thrilling finishes of the playoffs. Denver’s lead in the fourth quarter swelled to 22 points. The Nuggets were dominating and defending like their season depended on it. Nikola Jokić was having one of those playoff games that showed why he’s the best player in the world. The Intuit Dome was eerily silent.
But as the fourth quarter continued, the Nuggets ran out of gas. Because every Denver starter played at least 40 minutes, and because Jokić didn’t rest in the second half, the Nuggets’ legs grew tired and the Clippers took full advantage. LA came all the way back, taking a 97-96 lead with 1:11 remaining on Bogdan Bogdanović’s rebound and putback. Denver had nothing left after Jokić’s go-ahead bucket was matched by Ivica Zubac’s putback layup with eight seconds left.
That is why Gordon’s play could be series-defining. If Saturday afternoon’s game goes into overtime, the Nuggets likely lose because of their fatigue. Instead, they regained home-court advantage.
The Nuggets’ fatigue shows how much they fought in this game. Gordon picking up Kawhi Leonard and pressuring him to start the game was a metaphor for the Nuggets’ physicality with their proverbial backs to the wall. So, too, was Gordon, Christian Braun, Jokić and other Nuggets nearly getting into a full-on brawl with James Harden and the Clippers on the last possession of the first half. After Game 3, a blowout loss, the Nuggets felt they allowed the Clippers to punk them. In Game 4, the Nuggets returned the favor, building a steep advantage they ultimately needed every point of to survive.
“When you lose a game like that, you do kind of feel like you got punked,” Denver interim head coach David Adelman said of Game 3. “We watched the film of that on Friday, and our guys knew that they had to respond. I loved the fight that our guys showed in defending. I love how our guys stood up for each other, even though I think we have to ultimately be smart about it. I thought the Clippers played with that kind of fight and desperation in Game 3, and we didn’t. We played with that fight and desperation today.”
Denver struggled to finish the game, but the Nuggets were so good in the first 36 minutes that they changed the tenor of this series. The Clippers had looked like the better team for three games. Even in Game 1, Denver stole the victory with a few select moments of brilliance. But the Nuggets turned that around Saturday. For the first time in the series, they soundly outplayed LA. That could prove to be eye-opening in light of the Nuggets looking like they were a loss away from the series effectively being over before Gordon’s heroics.
A few things changed Saturday. After being good but not the best player in the series in the first three games, Jokić turned in a classic Game 4. He scored 36 points to go along with 21 rebounds and eight assists. Before he became fatigued by the end of the game, his defense was terrific. He hit a go-ahead turnaround fadeaway with 16 seconds remaining to give Denver a 99-97 lead. He grabbed seemingly every rebound.
JOKIĆ FADEAWAY FOR THE LEAD ‼️
Sombor shuffle with the game on the line 🕺 pic.twitter.com/9UPR9o286j
— NBA (@NBA) April 27, 2025
That was the Jokić the Nuggets needed to turn around the series. He was an alpha scorer as well as a playmaker. He fought through the Clippers’ double teams to consistently put the ball in the basket. Jokić didn’t always do those things in the first three games of the series, which is why the Clippers had been the better team. He did so in Game 4, and the series flipped.
The formula was simple before becoming more complex in the end. Adelman rode his starters, with only Watson playing double-digit minutes off the bench. He strategically used his timeouts to steal moments of rest for his main guys. He moved Jokić around the court more to keep the LA defense guessing. Without Russell Westbrook, who missed Game 4 with a foot injury, Michael Porter Jr. made a gaggle of big shots. Murray and Gordon both made huge plays in key moments, and Jokić proved to be a maestro. The victory allows the Nuggets to recalibrate with two days off in what is now a best-of-three series.
“We have to figure out a way to win two more games,” Jokić said. “I thought we were really good in the first half. When we went into halftime, we told each other that we were close. The momentum we had going into the second half led to the 20 point lead. I’m glad we had that lead.”
(Photo: Luke Hales / Getty Images)