As the opening game of Western Conference semifinal series between Denver Nuggets and Oklahoma City Thunder swung from one side to the other, the former was able to keep themselves on the latter’s tail in the last few minutes of the game.
With only four seconds remaining in the final quarter, Russell Westbrook found Aaron Gordon on the wing and the latter found the basket from outside the paint to put his team in front.
“When I shot it, did I know it was in?” Gordon mused after the Nuggets’ 121-119 win over the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 1 of their Western Conference semifinal series. “I knew it wasn’t a miss.”
“He lives in a gym, literally,” Nuggets forward Christian Braun said of the warehouse that Gordon has converted into his home in Denver, complete with a half court and basket that he shoots on when he can’t sleep at night or wakes up early in the mornings.
“When you can roll out of bed and go to your gym shoot, that helps a little bit.”
Gordon shot a career-high 43.6% from behind the 3-point line this season and Nikola Jokic showered praise on his teammate.
“He is the soul of this team,” Jokic said. “He probably doesn’t get as much respect as he deserves. But I think he doesn’t need it.”
Jokic also played an instrumental role in the team’s win as he scored 42 points and added 22 rebounds.
Gordon said the Nuggets have a lot of poise and grit, which has helped them bounce back in a lot of matches.
“We’ve been through a lot with this group,” Gordon said. “We’ve come from behind in plenty of games. It’s not necessarily what we’re trying to do, or what we want to do. But we know we’ve been in that position. … We have a lot of poise in this group. A lot of grit.”
The second game of the series will be played on Wednesday.
