The Portland Trail Blazers led from the start almost all the way to the finish before Denver finally caught up in the final minute on their way to a 137-132 win Monday night.
Toumani Camara hit his first four 3-pointers of the night to lift the Blazers to a 30-23 lead late in the first quarter, and he would hit another late in the first half to send the Blazers into the locker room up 72-58.
Portland would lead by as many as 18 points and were in command 115-99 after a Camara mid-range jumper with 8:34 to play.
But the Nuggets put on a late spurt and took the lead on a pair of Aaron Gordon 3-pointers in the final minute. Deni Avdija converted a layup in traffic to send the game to overtime tied 125-125.
But Denver dominated the extra five minutes, moving in front on another Gordon long ball to start overtime, and the Nuggets stayed a step ahead the rest of the way.
“We’re playing against a high-level team. They just had the poise to finish the game, and they were better than us — simple as that,” Blazers coach Tiago Splitter said.
Camara led the Blazers with 30 points, while Avdija scored 26. The Blazers converted 25 of 52 (48.1%) on 3-point tries, setting a franchise record for long-distance makes.
Portland (40-39) dropped back into the No. 9 spot — a half-game behind the LA Clippers — heading into Wednesday’s 6:30 p.m. game at San Antonio.