Denver’s bench buzzed, the roof rocked and the NBA world sat up as the Nuggets dug deep to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 113–104 in a breathless Game 3 of their play-off series. Despite Nikola Jokić’s uncharacteristically off night (20 points on 8-of-25 shooting and 0-for-10 from three), Denver found their spark in Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon.
With under 30 seconds left in the fourth and trailing 102–99, Gordon coolly drilled a corner triple to send the contest into overtime. There, Murray (27 points, eight assists) and Gordon (22 points, five assists) turned the heat up, outscoring OKC 11–2 and silencing every doubter.
Jokić still hauled in 16 rebounds but his eight turnovers hinted at the Thunder’s steely defence. Meanwhile, Michael Porter Jr. added 21 points (including five triples) to round off a complete team performance.
Oklahoma City rode Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s 18 points and 13 rebounds, and a career-high 32 from Jalen Williams, but couldn’t match Denver’s late-game punch.
Now leading the series 2–1, the Nuggets will head home buoyant, while the Thunder must regroup if they’re to avoid falling behind in this best-of-seven.
