It’s rare for an NBA game to leave me stunned anymore, because there are so many of them and it’s rare that any are as impactful as this one.

The Denver Nuggets dropped a double overtime thriller to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the closing seconds. Up 139-138 with 17 seconds remaining, the Nuggets forced a turnover and that turned into a fastbreak for Christian Braun and Russell Westbrook. They ran it well, all the way up until Westbrook bricked the layup and the Timberwolves had another chance without calling timeout. Then, Westbrook was called for a foul on a three-point shooter with 0.1 seconds remaining to send Nickeil Alexander-Walker to the free throw line.

NAW hit the first two free throws to put the T’Wolves up 140-139, then missed the final shot intentionally. The Nuggets lost a heartbreaker after being up and having a chance to win vs the Timberwolves for the first time since Game 5 of the Western Conference Semi-Finals back in May. Alas, it wasn’t meant to be.

“I feel awful for Russ,” head coach Michael Malone shared postgame. “[The mistakes were] not from a lack of effort or care, and sometimes it goes like that.”

There was a possibility to break off the fast break and instead slow down and play the free throw game with such little time remaining; however, it wasn’t the decision that most critics were annoyed by. Rather, it was simply missing the layup in that moment, which obviously wasn’t something Westbrook intended to do. Would it have been better to not take a shot at all in that situation and instead waste more clock? I don’t know. Probably not. The answer is just to make it, but it didn’t happen.

Each player that spoke at the podium had Westbrook’s back though. On the shot attempt, Christian Braun said he would “trust him to take that shot 100 out of 100 times. That’s not what lost us the game.”

And Nikola Jokic commented on his late three-point challenge that ended up being a foul based on marginal contact: “it’s basketball. I’m pretty sure that he didn’t want to make a foul or whatever. It happens. He had the best, I would say, thoughts. It happens.”

It was a horrible sequence, and that it happened to Westbrook is brutal. He’s a lightning rod as such a polarizing player that these moments are going to stand out even more because it was him. Westbrook was going 100%, playing hard, but he was simply out of control on both possessions. It may not have been the only reason Denver lost, but it hurt something fierce.

A Spoiled Gem

Nikola Jokic just put up 61 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists. He was unbelievable scoring the basketball this game, going up against a defense designed to slow him down that featured the four-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert on the other side. Gobert fouled out of this game, in part because of Jokic’s combination of craftiness and aggressiveness. Jokic set a new career-high for points but also a career-high for free throws and free throw attempts, shooting 19-of-24 from the free throw line.

Jokic played the entire second half and both overtime periods as well. Postgame, he said that he told Malone in between the third and fourth quarter that he didn’t want to be taken out, so Malone left him in there. The Nuggets nearly got it done in regulation, and in the first overtime, and in the second overtime. They were incredibly resilient, in part due to the leadership and skill of their best player.

“I’ve been fortunate to coach some great players,” Malone shared postgame. “Nikola’s on a whole ‘nother level man. People say he’s not athletic. Not many guys can do what he does.”

Jokic’s ability to fight through double and triple coverage, relocating around the floor, and consistently making difficult shots is what sets him apart from other centers. He can run the pick and roll, post up, cut off ball, run off screens, play the dribble hand-off game, basically everything. He was in his bag tonight and put together perhaps the greatest performance of his career, all without either Jamal Murray or Michael Porter Jr. out there.

At least Aaron Gordon was out there to relieve some pressure. The Nuggets wouldn’t have been in position to win this game had Aaron Gordon not made some big time buckets. he had 30 points, eight rebounds, and five assists himself, shooting efficiently in 48 minutes while going 4-of-8 from three.

Jokic and Gordon combined to make 10-of-19 three-pointers tonight. The rest of the Nuggets? They shot 2-of-15 from three.

This was quite simply a spoiled performance. Jokic gave everything in this one, and the Nuggets simply didn’t have enough around him and Gordon to get the job done. Christian Braun had a solid game, and Peyton Watson played great defense for most of the evening, but it doesn’t mean as much if you can’t come away with a win in that situation. And the way the game ended…absolutely brutal.

Now, the Nuggets have to turn the page and play the San Antonio Spurs in…I’m posting this at close to 2:30am MT, so about 16 hours and 30 minutes from now. That’s quite the turnaround, and Malone implied that some players would probably rest after such a rigorous game. Jokic, Braun, and Gordon played 53, 53, and 48 minutes, so they’re first on the watchlist for rest candidates.

Final Rotations