The Nuggets showed their championship pedigree against the No. 1 seed in the West with a thrilling 121-119 win. After trailing by 14 points in the fourth quarter, they finished the game on a 31-15 run and stole Game 1 in Oklahoma City.
Chet Holmgren missed two free throws and Aaron Gordon once again became the hero, hitting the game-winning three-pointer with 3.1 seconds left. Nikola Jokic led Denver with his seventh playoff game with at least 20 points and 20 rebounds (42 and 22, plus six assists). Gordon added 22 and 14, while Jamal Murray ended up with 21 points, six rebounds and six assists.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander almost had a triple-double (33-10-8) and got help off the bench from Alex Caruso (20 points, six assists, five steals and two blocks), but Jalen Williams shot just 25 percent from the field. Some questionable fouls by OKC in the clutch gave the Nuggets a chance to take the game.
Check out the immediate reactions:
I really disagree with having Alex Caruso foul Aaron Gordon that early after that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Make Denver go the length of the floor with 10 seconds on the floor with zero timeouts and Jokic on the bench to tie the game with a 3.
— Michael Martin (@MichaelOnSports) May 6, 2025
We continue to witness greatness.
42 points and 22 rebounds for Jokic as the Nuggets (9.5-point underdogs) upset the No. 1 seed Thunder. pic.twitter.com/CVo5Cg23o4
— Lawrence Smelser (@LawrenceSmelser) May 6, 2025
OKC deserved to lose. Horribly managed the end of that game. So dumb to foul up 3 when Jokic was OFF THE FLOOR AND THE NUGGETS HAD NO TIMEOUTS.
— Kevin O’Connor (@KevinOConnorNBA) May 6, 2025
The Nuggets and Thunder took 30+ free throws in the 4th quarter. The refs need to do a better job in the next game. There were some awful calls made that swung the game in favor of the Nuggets.
— Erik Rokisky (@e_rok13) May 6, 2025
SGA IS the MVP …
but Joker IS the best player in the world!
— 🏁 Jamal Crawford (@JCrossover) May 6, 2025
Aaron Gordon does it again.
MR. NUGGET WE LOVE YOU!
THANK YOU FOR SAVING US. WE DONT DESERVE YOU 🥹😭😭😭🐐🐐🐐🐐🐐 pic.twitter.com/CAylvPuYjp— Tatiana (@Tatianaclinares) May 6, 2025
Three @nuggets had 11+ points and 13+ rebounds. The leading rebounder for the Thunder had 10.
That is just the 3rd time since the merger that a team did that in the NBA playoffs on the road (Cavs in 1992, Warriors in 2019), and just the 6th time anywhere since the merger.
— Statzman (@RealStatzman) May 6, 2025
Watching what the Nuggets did to the Thunder late in the game when I’ve been seeing this for the past 3yrs as a Lakers fan pic.twitter.com/HnbtGvKa77
— MATT27 (@MATT27_______) May 6, 2025
