Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets have shocked Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors in an NBA epic, profitable on the buzzer 130-126 to cap off an 18-point fourth-quarter comeback.
Golden State couldn’t miss late within the third quarter, making four-straight 3-pointers to open up a 107-94 lead over the Nuggets, who had been forward 70-63 at halftime.
The Warriors picked up the place they left off within the fourth as Andrew Wiggins made a 3-pointer to open the scoring and shortly the sport actually began to get away from the Nuggets, who discovered themselves trailing 121-103 with 7:24 on the clock.
It prompted Nuggets coach Michael Malone to name a timeout and he acquired the specified end result as Jokic and Jamal Murray made two fast buckets in between a Wiggins jumpshot.
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Denver then went on a 13-0 run to attract inside 5 factors of the Warriors with simply over three minutes left.
A Trayce Jackson-Davis layup later put Golden State forward 127-120 with 2:05 on the clock earlier than Peyton Watson drained a 3-pointer on the following possession for Denver to maintain issues fascinating.
Issues acquired even extra fascinating as Aaron Gordon and Jokic scored to tie up the sport with 26 seconds left.
It gave the Warriors an ideal likelihood to chew up nearly all of the remaining time on the clock earlier than going for the go-ahead rating, besides as a substitute Curry turned the ball over with 4.1 seconds left.
Malone instantly referred to as a timeout to advance the ball and that’s when Jokic, who scored 34 factors within the win, got here up clutch with a shocking 3-pointer on the buzzer.
“Are you kidding me? Are you kidding me? A 7-footer off the dribble?” Stan Van Gundy mentioned in commentary.
Jokic additionally had 10 assists, 9 rebounds, two steals and a block within the win whereas Jamal Murray and Gordon mixed for 55 factors. Watson had 19 factors off the bench.
As for Golden State, Curry led the way in which with 30 factors whereas Klay Thompson had 24 and Jonathan Kuminga added a useful 16.
Kuminga although solely performed 19 minutes, with Kerr opting in opposition to closing the sport out with him, one thing which the Golden State coach defined had extra to do with not desirous to take out Wiggins.
“He was taking part in nice,” Kerr mentioned of Wiggins.
“His [Kuminga] regular time to return in would have been across the 5-6 minute mark and Wiggs was taking part in nice and we have been rolling, we’re up 18, 19 no matter it was.
“So we simply stayed with [Wiggins]. Then at that time, it didn’t really feel prefer it was the correct factor to do. He’d been sitting for some time, so I stayed with the group that was on the market. Clearly we couldn’t shut it out.”
GIANNIS, WEMBY DUEL IT OUT IN THRILLER
The Milwaukee Bucks, led by Giannis Antetokounmpo’s 44 factors and 14 rebounds, held off the San Antonio Spurs 125-121 regardless of one other stellar efficiency from Victor Wembanyama on his twentieth birthday.
Wembanyama, restricted to 26 minutes on the ground as he recovers from ankle hassle, scored 27 factors with 9 rebounds and 5 blocked pictures.
Devin Vassell led the Spurs with 34 factors, however the highlight-reel battle between Antetokounmpo and Wembanyama stole the present in San Antonio.
It was the French rookie’s first assembly with the Greek celebrity after Wembanyama’s sprained ankle pressured him to overlook a December recreation in Milwaukee.
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“He’s unbelievable, unbelievable expertise,” Antetokounmpo mentioned of Wembanyama, who thrilled San Antonio followers within the first half by jamming dwelling a dunk off his personal bounce off the backboard.
“He can rating at will, anytime he desires. Performs the correct means, performs to win. It was good taking part in in opposition to him,” added Antetokounmpo after the Bucks snapped a two-game skid to enhance to 25-10, the third finest document within the league.
The entertaining contest was tied 93-93 heading right into a fourth quarter that featured eight lead adjustments, the Spurs battling for the upset in a season that has seen them win simply 5 video games.
For Wembanyama it was additionally an opportunity to check himself in opposition to a participant he “grew up watching” in Antetokounmpo — a two-time NBA Most Precious Participant who led the Bucks to the NBA title in 2021.
“It’s all the time additional motivation,” Wembanyama mentioned.
“I need to go at everybody and be the dangerous man on the court docket. So it was an excellent match-up.”
Antetokounmpo drained a three-pointer to tie it up at 118-118 with three minutes to play. He then drew a cost name on Wembanyama and fewer than a minute later drilled one other three-pointer to place the Bucks up 121-118.
Wembanyama answered with a giant block of a Damian Lillard layup and a three-pointer that tied it with 1:09 remaining.
A dunk from Antetokounmpo put the Bucks again in entrance, however Wembanyama blocked one other shot from a driving Antetokounmpo to maintain the Spurs inside attain.
A closely guarded Wembanyama discovered open teammate Tre Jones for a possible game-tying three-pointer with simply over a second to play, however Jones’s shot didn’t fall.
“After all the result isn’t what we wished, but it surely was the widest open shot,” Wembanyama mentioned, including that the Spurs’ total efficiency was encouraging.
“Simply the truth that we are able to compete with a championship degree group like that is promising,” he mentioned.