For Jordi Fernandez, Tuesday was a chance to see the Denver team he cut his teeth with. But for his Nets, it was a chance to test themselves against champions.

They came up agonizingly short, blowing a huge double-digit lead and falling, 144-139, in overtime before a sellout crowd of 17,926 at Barclays Center.

The Nets (1-2) played well enough to build a 17-point cushion, only to watch a couple of misses from Dorian Finney-Smith leave the door open and MVP Nikola Jokic come crashing through in overtime.

Nikola Jokic, who scored 29 points, grabs a rebound during the Nets’ 144-139 overtime loss to the Nuggets on Oct. 29, 2024. Corey Sipkin for the New York Post

After Finney-Smith missed a key free throw that let Jokic tie it on a hook shot with 8.8 seconds left in regulation, he missed a potential winning corner 3 to consign Brooklyn to that extra stanza.

That’s where the Nets lost it, seeing Cam Thomas score first but then coughing up eight unanswered points and never recovering.

They head to Memphis for the tail end of a back-to-back Wednesday, wondering how they lost this one.

One answer was Jokic. The star had 29 points, 18 rebounds and 16 assists, joining Oscar Robertson as the only players ever to post those numbers.

Being on the wrong end of a 47-27 disparity in free throws might be the other.

“We played extremely hard. I’m very proud of the guys,” Fernandez said. “Obviously, the free throws were an issue. They continue to be an issue. We’ll keep doing what we’re doing, but we’re going to do it better. The fact that we fought against a team like this, to me it means a lot to our group. That next step is going to help us break through.”

Brooklyn head coach Jordi Fernandez, who was an assistant with the Nuggets for six year, gives out instructions during the Nets’ overtime loss. Corey Sipkin for New York Post

Thomas (26 points) had the first bucket of overtime, but the Nets coughed up an 8-0 run.

Jokic, who had four points, three boards and two assists in OT, knotted it on free throws.

Then he added a put-back of his own miss, and after Thomas got blocked by Christian Braun, Jokic found Aaron Gordon (24 points) for a layup that left Brooklyn down, 131-127, with 3:09 left in overtime.

Jamal Murray, who scored 24 points, looks to shoot over Noah Clowney during the Nets’ overtime loss. Corey Sipkin for New York Post

Thomas missed a jumper, and Jamal Murray padded the Denver lead to six. The rest was anticlimactic.

Dennis Schroder had a team-high 28 points and 14 assists — his most as a Net — shooting 10-of-18 overall and 5-of-11 from deep.

With seven scorers in double figures, Brooklyn had a balanced attack to shoot 51 percent and 20-of-52 from deep.

Cam Thomas, who scored 24 points, shoots over Jamal Murray during the Nets’ overtime loss. Corey Sipkin for New York Post

The Nets handed out 37 assists to just nine turnovers, but seven of those came after halftime, when Denver adjusted its defense and the Nets got bogged down.

“We stopped pushing the pace a little bit in the second half,” Thomas said. “The free throws, that’ll do it every time. So those two, really. We fought hard. We had a big lead early. We gotta close, though.”

After the Nets built multiple 17-point leads — the latest 47-30 on a Ziaire Williams jumper with 9:42 in the first half — the Nuggets put Jokic on Finney-Smith and Aaron Gordon on Nic Claxton in the second half, switching all the pick-and-rolls.

Dennis Schroder, who scored a team-high 28 points, drives past Nikola Jokic during the Nets’ overtime loss. Corey Sipkin for New York Post

Brooklyn still led, 99-93, after Claxton’s midrange jumper with under a minute remaining in the third, before conceding a 13-2 run that spanned into the fourth to fall behind, 106-101.

The Nets didn’t fold, responding with eight unanswered of their own to go up, 109-106.

Thomas hit a tough turnaround against Braun for a 124-121 edge with 33 seconds left in regulation.

Ziaire Williams, who scored 18 points off the bench, slams one home during the Nets’ overtime loss. Corey Sipkin for New York Post

But Jokic scored on a put-back, and Finney-Smith made just one of two free throws to leave the door cracked.

Denver kicked it in, with Jokic getting position for a 5-foot hook shot with 8.8 seconds left in regulation.

Finney-Smith’s missed corner 3 relegated the Nets to OT, where they lost.

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“I gotta make the free throw,” Finney-Smith said.

Of the missed look at the end of regulation, he said: “Coach called a play for Dennis. He put me in the corner knowing [Jokic] was going to help, and he got me a corner 3. I’ll take that [look] any day of the week.”