Aaron Gordon delivers again with game-tying 3, Nuggets put foot down on Thunder for OT Game 3 win

Nikola Jokic detected his seat on the bench and bellowed at the rafters of his building the one he has transformed into a temple that worships him The agony of his missed buzzer-beater opportunity was doubled by the grim fact that he would have to play through his struggles for another five minutes The Nuggets had his back Despite Jokic s -for- night his unit scored the first seven points of overtime and stormed to a - Competition accomplishment over the top-seeded Thunder on Friday Oklahoma City was held to just two points in the extra period after Clutch Performer of the Year apparent snub Aaron Gordon drained a game-tying corner -pointer with seconds to go in regulation Jokic struggled like he never has before Wearing a shooting sleeve over the right elbow that has irritated him for weeks he missed all shots beyond the arc His turnovers equaled or eclipsed his assists for the third consecutive encounter That happened four times in the regular season Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr did everything within their power to pick up the slack Murray went for points on shots plus eight assists and four steals His perfect pocket pass to Jokic created a floater that put Denver back ahead by seven late in overtime snuffing any Thunder comeback dreams Porter repented for a rough start to the series by scoring points on -of- outside shooting The Nuggets won despite giving up offensive boards and securing only five of their own The most of painful they allowed occurred with a - lead Jalen Williams punished them burying a go-ahead -pointer with just inside of two minutes to play in regulation Williams was astounding in the absence of a Shai Gilgeous-Alexander MVP message challenge The Thunder s second option imposed his will and amassed points SGA was contained to on a -for- night The Thunder won the paint - That Denver prevailed anyway was almost as astounding as its Battle win Jokic s first half was perhaps the worst of his playoff career He picked up two early fouls impacting his ceiling to take risks with his hands at the defensive end He loitered a little too far from the basket and missed jumpers His -for- shooting clip was accompanied by five turnovers and just one assist He didn t clean up a single Nuggets miss while Oklahoma City compiled nine offensive rebounds On Denver s final possession of the half he was charged with a double-dribble sending him to the bench arguing his innocence while a defensive sub replaced him So the Nuggets tried to force him into a rhythm after halftime by calling their first play to generate a -footer off the catch Jokic knocked it down But it was a faux turning point By the time he missed an uncontested layup during a wacky third quarter failing to reward one of Murray s multiple exquisite passes it was clear he was going through it So was the Thunder fortunately for Jokic So was everybody In one sequence to summarize them all Porter Westbrook and Alex Caruso missed consecutive layups An ornery Ball Arena audience erupted when its association somehow grasped a - lead Then Caruso suddenly turned sniper he shot from this season and briefly reestablished Oklahoma City s cushion It led - at the end of the frame The non-Jokic minutes were not the looming threat the non-Murray minutes were Murray operated and facilitated with more precision than he did in OKC even when he or a teammate didn t cash in on his creation His handle was crafty His finishing was gnarly never more so than when he banked a topsy-turvy layup late in the third Related Articles Nuggets-Thunder Meeting -pointers Michael Porter Jr finds redemption Why Michael Porter Jr is determined to keep playing through shoulder injury in Nuggets-Thunder series Renck If Nuggets don t bring fight to punchable Thunder they deserve what they get David Adelman on playing Nuggets starters after getting punked in first half of Challenge We needed to find a rhythm Nuggets Aaron Gordon comes to Nikola Jokic s defense after star fouls out They are fouling him The Nuggets stole home-court advantage by splitting the first two contests in Oklahoma City but that hasn t mattered much in a second round that started with six consecutive home teams losing Denver interim coach David Adelman was demanded about that phenomenon Friday before opening tip He incorrectly hinted at an expectation that a young OKC company would handle the pressure of clutch time You know what s funny I think it might be the -point line Adelman stated I really do I think it s the great equalizer right now in our event I also think that s why you see more blowouts in the playoffs because there s teams that can get hot and make You get out of control very speedily And I don t know why but I feel like this generation of players maybe it s the way they grew up playing AAU and traveling all over the place and playing they re less likely to feel as much anxiety on the road Instead the Thunder got tight Isaiah Hartenstein missed badly on his usually automatic push shot Perimeter players dribbled into crowds The group missed six of seven shots in overtime Want more Nuggets news Sign up for the Nuggets Insider to get all our NBA analysis