Nuggets' historic buzzer-beater stuns Clippers, embarrasses Nikola Jokic

An NBA playoff game had never ended on a winning, buzzer-beating dunk (at least not since the league began keeping detailed play-by-play in 1997) until Saturday, when the Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Clippers were locked in a 99-99 tie late in Game 4 of their entertaining first-round series.

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History was made when Aaron Gordon's offensive rebound and two-handed slam ruined an inspired Clippers comeback and gave the Nuggets a 101-99 victory to send the series back to Denver tied at 2-2.

A prolonged video review added some temporary suspense before referee Zach Zarba announced the official ruling. "The ball was deemed to get out of Gordon's hands right before the LED light. This is a successful basket. The game is over," Zarba announced to the dismay of Clippers fans at Intuit Dome.

Asked afterward about his historic game-winning shot, Gordon chose to give a backhanded compliment to the teammate who got him the ball — Nikola Jokic, whose errant turnaround, fadeaway 3-point attempt caught no rim but luckily all air.

"It was a nice pass," replied Gordon, whose answer got a chuckle from Jokic, his press conference partner.

Asked if his airball was actually a pass, Jokic came clean. "No, no it wasn't," he said.

With 8.0 seconds left, Jokic tried to win the game himself. He began his move against Clippers center Ivica Zubac by dribbling left before spinning back to his right. However, the three-time MVP had Zubac's hand in his face when he flung a high-arcing 3-pointer at the rim.

What went through his mind as he chucked his 27-foot shot? “This is going to be bad,” Jokic said.

The rest of Jokic's performance was, as usual, brilliant. He scored 36 points to go with 21 rebounds, eight assists, two steals and one block.

The Clippers overcame a 22-point fourth-quarter deficit to force Denver into the unexpected, last-minute drama. The loss was their second heartbreaking defeat of the series. L.A. dropped the series opener 112-110 in overtime in Denver.

“It’s still a series. Best of three,” Clippers star Kawhi Leonard said. “We’ll see what happens.”

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