Wow. Just…wow. The Denver Nuggets went back and forth in a high scoring affair with the Golden State Warriors until the Warriors opened up a massive lead late in the third quarter. Denver trailed by eighteen points with six minutes in the middle of the fourth quarter and that’s where they started their comeback behind Nikola Jokic. The Nuggets worked all the way back before Jokic won it in dramatic fashion with a buzzer beating three almost for half court. Big performances from Aaron Gordon and Jamal Murray as well offset strong performances from Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson for a 130-127 Denver victory.

The Nuggets opened up not playing a ton of defense. The Warriors were able to get easy looks at the basket while also knocking down some threes (though Thompson airballed his first attempt). That built a lead for Golden State that was up to nine with almost half the quarter gone. Jokic started to assert himself in the paint after that as he continued his streak of ridiculous shooting efficiency. Denver got within a couple buckets before the game got a little sloppy with the quarter winding down. It was clear Jokic could get whatever he wanted in the paint and he led Denver all the way back to a one point lead before checking out with just over a minute to go. The bench unit held serve and the quarter closed with Denver up 34-33.

The teams traded baskets to open the second quarter while the Nuggets bench continued to give them positive minutes. The Warriors got the lead back for a moment before Denver’s starters checked back in. Thompson was heating up from three and getting dangerous but Denver continued to respond which kept the game tied with six minutes to go in the half. The Nuggets starters applied the pressure with a relentless offensive attack and quickly got the lead again. Jokic was putting together a masterclass of a half and the rest of Denver’s starters were all executing their roles well. To Golden State’s credit, they were hanging tight behind Curry. The Nuggets pushed the lead to seven at half in a high scoring 70-63 affair.

The second half started the same way as the first: a whole lot of buckets and not much defense. The Warriors once again found success in transition which prompted an angry Michael Malone timeout with the Nuggets lead down to three. Thompson had it going from mid-range and he dueled with Murray who started cooking from mid-range as well. The Warriors got and-1 opportunity after and-1 opportunity in the game and when Johnathan Kuminga converted the Warriors sixth such opportunity he tied the game with half the quarter gone. Golden State slowly started to build a lead from there. A Curry three to put them up six provoked another Denver timeout. It didn’t help, the Warriors got hot from three as they are wont to do and pushed the lead to double digits. Brandin Podziemski in particular was the benefactor of some poor Denver defense as he rained threes from the corner. The disaster close to the third resulted in Golden State scoring forty points in the quarter and left the Nuggets trailing 107-94.

Golden State opened the fourth with another three and the Nuggets were suddenly in danger of getting blown out. The bench unit wasn’t ready to go quietly into the night though. Peyton Watson threw down a monstrous fast break dunk to get Denver back within eleven and make Steve Kerr take a timeout. Curry sparked an immediate 7-0 run out of the timeout to put Denver right back into blowout territory. They stopped the bleeding but with the lead still at fourteen and half the quarter gone time was becoming a factor. The Nuggets kept chipping away at the lead and had it below double digits with four minutes to go. They scored thirteen straight before some Curry free throws finally stopped the run. Denver got stuck on the two possession deficit hump for a couple minutes before a Jokic lob to Aaron Gordon (who had a phenomenal quarter) got them within two points with just over a minute to go. Jokic tied it with just twenty-six seconds left and Murray got a steal on the following possession but some confusion on the timeout call gave them just 3.6 seconds and they had to inbound from three-quarter court. Jokic got the inbound, had just enough time to dribble past half court and threw up a prayer…which was answered. Another iconic Joker moment is born and the Nuggets win in unbelievable fashion, 130-127.