Denver-Nikola Jokic scored 29 points and Aaron Gordon added 25, including a pair of free throws with 12 seconds to play, and the Denver Nuggets fell with a deficit of 15 points in the first half to put themselves beyond the Clippers 112-110 in overtime on Saturday when opening their series of series of the Western Conference.
Jamal Murray added 21 points, nine tips and seven assists for fourth seeded nuggets, who improved at 4-0 under the acting coach David Adelman, the replacement of Michael Malone.
The head loss n ° 5 was their first since March 30 in Cleveland. They rolled in the playoffs after winning 18 of the 21, including their last eight, and they took an early advance which was held until the last minutes of the regulation.
Match 2 is Monday evening in Ball Arena.
Russell Westbrook came Grand at the end of the regulation with an undisputed corner 3 for an advance of 98-96, and still in overtime when he passed the inbounds of – and outside – James Harden with 9.6 seconds to play and Denver clinging to a 3 -point lead.
According to ESPN, the 3 -point clutch from Westbrook marked its first career in the last 30 seconds of the fourth quarter or extensions in its career in the playoffs, according to ESPN Research.
Jokic was the victim of a fault on the inbound game that followed and his two free throws made 112-107 before the 3-point buzzer from Norman Powell.
The score was tied at 98 at the end of the regulation.
After the 3 -point pointer from Westbrook from the left corner, Harden responded with a floater to attach it and the Nuggets could not draw a shot in the last 18 seconds.
In overtime, the nuggets never dragged.
Jokic collected 12 passes and finished a shy rebound in a triple-double. Harden led the Clippers with 32 points. Kawhi Leonard added 27 and Ivica Zubac was 21.
These teams met for the last time in the playoffs in 2020 at the Walt Disney World in the pandemic bubble, when the nuggets overcome a 3-1 deficit to beat the mower.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
