Behind a roaring comeback, the Denver Nuggets won their ninth straight game on Monday night, taking down the Portland Trail Blazers 137-132 in overtime.
It was the second straight come-from-behind overtime win for Denver against a postseason-bound opponent — and another night where Nikola Jokic took over late to assert his MVP candidacy and push the Nuggets into the Western Conference’s third seed.
There was a stretch Monday at Ball Arena where it felt like every Trail Blazer who touched the ball beyond the arc was going to make it. Portland shot 25-of-52 from three for the game — 48% — from a team that entered 29th in the NBA in three-point percentage. They went 16-for-30 from deep in the first half, building a 14-point halftime lead that swelled to 18 in the third quarter.
“They made 25 threes, people,” head coach David Adelman said. “They’re 29th in three-point percentage and they made 25 threes. So it was a weird game in a lot of ways.”
Toumani Camara led the barrage with 30 points on 8-of-13 from three. Jrue Holiday had 19 points and 11 assists. Matisse Thybulle added 14 points and five steals off the bench while connecting on four of six three-point attempts.
Denver trailed 101-87 entering the fourth quarter. It was the first time the Nuggets won trailing by 14 or more heading into the final period since November 8, 2019, when they came back from 19 down against the 76ers.
The group Adelman deployed to open the fourth — Jonas Valanciunas, Julian Strawther, Bruce Brown, Cameron Johnson and Jamal Murray — kept the game from slipping away. Valanciunas was awesome again, scoring 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting in under 10 minutes, nine of those coming in the fourth quarter. Strawther added 11 off the bench.
“That game felt like it was over right there,” Adelman said. “Like if we don’t play well from the 12-minute mark to the 8-minute mark of that quarter, game’s over. I just thought they enthused the group with how they played.”
Aaron Gordon put it simply: “Some guys came in and changed the energy of the game. Big V came in and played his ass off. Julian came in. It was a spark, and that inspires guys.”
When Jokic, Gordon and Christian Braun re-entered around the eight-minute mark, Denver still trailed by double digits. From there the Nuggets outscored Portland 36-17 through the end of regulation to tie the game at 125. In each of the last last two games — Saturday’s comeback against San Antonio and Monday’s against Portland — Jokic has entered with Denver trailing and fueled comeback runs.
Gordon was the engine of the closing stretch. After misfiring early, he finished 4-of-9 from three, including a triple with 1:12 remaining that tied the game at 123 and a long two off a Murray assist with 27 seconds left that gave Denver its first lead since the opening quarter.
“Aaron plays, we’re a very different basketball team,” Adelman said. The Nuggets are 26-9 when AG plays this year.
Gordon, who finished with 23 points and nine rebounds on 8-of-14 shooting, traced his shooting evolution to the summer before the 2023 championship run.
“Basically all I did in the summer was just shoot diligently,” Gordon said. “Each shot individually, taking my time. I knew we were getting Jamal back. I knew we were getting Mike back. I knew we were going to have a chance at the run.”
Deni Avdija answered Gordon’s go-ahead bucket with a driving layup to tie it at 125 with 20 seconds left. Jokic’s attempt at the buzzer rimmed out — he admitted afterward he probably overthought it, as he looked to pass out to the wing for a split second — sending the game to overtime.
Gordon opened overtime a three to make it 128-125. Murray drilled one of his own to push the lead to six. After Murray free throws extended the margin to five, he threw down a dunk off a Jokic feed to make it 135-128. Jokic sealed it with a layup at the 1:26 mark, pushing the lead to 137-130.
Jokic finished with 35 points, 14 rebounds, 13 assists, five steals and two blocks — becoming the only player in NBA history with multiple games of 35-plus points, 12-plus rebounds, 12-plus assists, five-plus steals and two-plus blocks. Murray added 20 points and seven assists. Johnson contributed 17 points, seven assists and six rebounds. Denver finished with 37 assists on 52 made field goals and just 12 turnovers.
“There was a calm to our team,” Johnson said. “Guys were finding solutions. It’s not like we’re going to try to get 14 points back in one possession.”
“We have championship mettle,” Gordon said. “We play best with our backs against the wall.”
Seeking the No. 3 seed
The win moves Denver to 51-28, sitting half a game above the Lakers in the race for the Western Conference’s No. 3 seed with three games remaining in the regular season for the Nuggets and four for Los Angeles.
The math has been steep for the three, but a crushing 43-point Lakers loss to the Thunder — combined with injuries to Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves that will sideline both for the remainder of the regular season — has blown the door wide open. The Lakers need to lose one more of their final four, and the Nuggets would need to win out for the standings to hold. LA plays OKC on Tuesday night, and the Thunder could clinch the top seed with a win and a Spurs loss on Wednesday.
There’s also this: the Nuggets winning Saturday against the Spurs significantly increased the odds that their final two opponents — OKC and San Antonio — won’t be playing for much by the time Denver faces them. Wemby also hurt his ribs in the Spurs’ win on Monday.
What’s next for the Nuggets?
It’s unlikely Peyton Watson plays in the Nuggets’ final three games of the season, but it’s worth watching his status — and Spencer Jones’ — as Denver hits the final stretch. Each missed Monday’s game again. The Nuggets are back home Wednesday and Friday, hosting Memphis first and then the Thunder in a game that may not be of consequence to OKC by the time it tips. The season ends in San Antonio a week from Sunday, again in a game that may not matter to the two-seeded Spurs.
Wednesday against Memphis will also give Denver a chance at something it has never accomplished in the Jokic era: a 10-game winning streak. The way this team keeps finding ways — down 18 on a Monday night, trading haymakers in overtime, riding a nine-game heater into the final week — it would be fitting if they had to come from behind to get that, too.
