Aaron Gordon saves Nuggets' season with incredible buzzer-beating alley-oop

The Nuggets were up against it on Saturday, coming into Game 4 of their first-round playoff series down 2-1 to the Clippers. They had to steal a game in LA, and had to do it without Russell Westbrook and with an ailing Michael Porter Jr.

After getting blown out in Game 3, in many ways, it felt like the deck was stacked against Denver, but they responded in a way that only this team can. Nikola Jokic did most of the heavy lifting, supplying 36 points, 21 rebounds, and 8 assists, but it was Aaron Gordon coming through with the biggest play of the Nuggets’ season.

The Nuggets got out to a massive lead in the third quarter, but ran out of gas late as LA walked down a 22-point lead and actually pulled ahead in the final minutes. This was about to go down as a catastrophic loss that would all but end the season for Denver, and perhaps this era of Nuggets basketball.

But in the final seconds of the game, with things tied at 99, Denver had the final possession to win the game or go to overtime. Jokic held the ball on the perimeter, trying to work on Ivica Zubac. Kawhi Leonard ran in with a double team, forcing Jokic to fade away and put up a high-arcing prayer over two defenders.

Aaron Gordon dunks home game-winner to tie series with Clippers 2-2

The ball sailed long, completely over the rim, but as time was expiring, Gordon rose well above the rim, caught Jokic’s airball, and alley-ooped the ball home, literally hundreds of a second before the lights went off and the buzzer sounded, for a walk-off Nuggets victory, 101-99.

The Nuggets still have their work cut out for them in this series, but it felt like the season was slowly slipping away right before our eyes, and they saved it, yet again. The Nuggets have a way of playing their best when things look the bleakest. It was easy to write them off given the circumstances, and nobody would have been able to fault them for bowing out of this series given their depth and health.

But instead, they showed the heart of a champion, and they live to fight for another day. Now, it’s a best-of-three series with two of those games in Denver. MPJ played well, and he has more time to rest up. Likewise, for Russell Westbrook, who may be able to return for Game 5.

It was an incredible moment, one that will go down in NBA playoff history as an all-time highlight. It was shades of Derrick White, Lorenzo Charles, Deandre Ayton, and others. And it will be that much sweeter if the Nuggets are able to finish the job and win this series thanks to Gordon’s heroics.