Aaron Gordon I was sitting in Denver nugget‘Watching the Golden State Warriors play the Houston Rocket when ice was wrapped around the knees, when the Golden State Warriors flashed all over the screen: it was His The ABC announced that Gordon just made the first buzzer-stabbing dunk in playoff history.
“That’s crazy,” Gordon said with a smile.
For a few moments, Gordon caught the airball as the score tied 99-99 in Game 4 of the Nuggets’ first round playoff series with the Raclippers Nicola Jokic When 0.0 flashes on the clock, I made a two-handed dunk. He quickly ran across the court towards the tunnel, raising his arms at the celebration as he leapt into the air.
The jam was made without milliseconds left, and officials now check to see if the ball left Gordon’s fingertips in time. Djokic was suspicious and he retreated to the bench with his team and didn’t want to be excited and disappointed. However, Gordon had an unshakable faith that the verdict of the judge would go down his path.
“Yeah, I knew,” Gordon told Fox Sports.
It was an incredible finish for nail bitters. There, the Nuggets wasted a 22-point lead by allowing the Clippers to overtake them at 34-16 in the fourth quarter. But in the end, Gordon’s hero saved the Nuggets Day, tying the series 2-2.
For Gordon, it was a moment of pure uplifting amid an incredibly harsh season when he grieved the death of his brother in a car accident 10 months ago and dealt with multiple calf strains.
Nuggets interim coach David Adelman, who was an assistant when Gordon was an Orlando star, witnessed the 29-year-old’s development in his 11-season career.
He saw Gordon go from being man The team missed five playoffs and won two first-round playoff exits, embracing a smaller role after being addressed by Denver at the 2021 trade deadline and became an essential piece for the 2023 title-winning run.
“We have certain people in our league that we define as a championship piece,” Adelman said. “I think we’re saying too much. He’s one of those people. He’s that definition and he’s always been the case since we got to us.”
Gordon is a two-way player equally satisfied with doing a roaring job at the expense of dominant performances and flashy statistics, choosing to distract him after playing that went viral on the internet, and deserves to be in Mantrashmore for the Postseason Beatherers.
When asked how the dunk felt, Gordon made a joke about Jokic’s airball.
“Nice pass,” Gordon said at a post-game press conference that Jokic was sitting next to him.
Rather than attempting a very false 27-foot crazy three-pointer, Jokic was asked if he was actually handing out the ball to Gordon, in the three MVPs who rarely miss Mark so dramatically.
“No,” Jokic said like a sheep. “It wasn’t [a pass]”
Anyway, Gordon’s timing was perfect and he made yet another winning play for the Nuggets. The Nuggets competed for another championship after being eliminated by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the semi-finals of the postseason Western Conference last year.
Gordon played highlight reels on Saturday, but Adelman said his contributions to the Nugget often fly under the radar.
“He’s going to start a crime,” Adelman said. “He’s defending some of the best players in the NBA. You can post him. He can go one-on-one. You can iso him against a smaller guy. You can put him on a smaller, offensive player. [points] 8 [rebounds]4 [assists] As long as we win, that night. And some nights, it’s 22 [points]12 [rebounds]6 [assists], [but]if we lose, he doesn’t care. He wants to win. ”
When Gordon is asked about his selflessness, he points out Jokic, the leader of the team who cares only about victory, his family, horses, and is completely indifferent to statistics and individual admiration.
“This guy is the best player in the world and he’s not selfish,” Gordon said. “So if he can do that, everyone can do that.”
The Nuggets’ series against the Clippers was the most exciting matchup in the first round of the playoffs, with three of the three games being decided by less than three points. Naturally, Game 4 became Chippy, with three players from each team technically rated Christian Brown Both teams engaged in skirmishes after fouling James Harden with 6.6 seconds remaining in the second quarter.
Interestingly, instead of lamenting Gordon’s incredible buzzer beaters, the Clippers might want to blame Ivica Zubac for getting away from the game, considering Gordon held back from chasing Hardin during the brawl. Harden pushed Gordon in the face before Zubak could intervene, chanting the Intutes Dome crowd with Gordon “drove him out.”
As for Gordon, he said he’s just sticking to his teammates.
“I was just giving backups because no one could step on my younger peers,” Gordon said of Brown. “It’s the purpose of playoff basketball.”
As for the nuggets, all five starters finished in double digits, while Jokic led the charge with 36 points, 21 rebounds and eight assists. But the spotlight was in Gordon. Gordon had 14 points, six rebounds and five assists, making it his biggest play of the postseason.
Gordon proved to the Nugget that he is the ultimate blue-collar worker and willing to do anything for his team. This season he averaged 14.7 points, shooting a career-high 43.6% from the ARC, earning 4.8 rebounds and 3.2 assists.
For another team, his numbers are far more impressive.
But he’s always worried about doing little things for a team that can win the championship. And after a 34-point driving for the Nuggets in Game 3, he had no intention of getting away from them another game.
As soon as Jokic attempted the final three pointer via Zubac, he flinched internally, admitting that six words had crossed his mind.
But he didn’t have to worry.
Gordon did little things for his team and he did his best.
But this little thing won his team, as well as he also made a history book.
Melissa Rohlin is an NBA writer for Fox Sports. She previously featured a league of sports illustrations Los Angeles The era, Bay Area News Group and San Antonio Express News. Follow her on Twitter @Melissarolin.
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