\u201cThat and even better,\u201d Johnson said, when asked what this group can be. They were it on Saturday.<\/p>\n
San Antonio came out ablaze, pouring in 43 first-quarter points and seizing a 13-point lead in the second quarter. The early stretch was ugly on Denver\u2019s side \u2014 Aaron Gordon was visibly frustrated, and Adelman and Gordon both picked up technicals on the same play in the first quarter after a no-call sequence that swung the game firmly in San Antonio\u2019s direction. Wemby hit Jokic, no whistle. The Nuggets got stopped on that possession and frustration boiled over. Two technicals plus a transition take foul later, it was a seven-point swing on a single possession. That fueled a 13-3 Spurs run that felt like it might bury Denver before halftime.<\/p>\n
It didn\u2019t. Jonas Valanciunas came in and immediately provided a physical presence. When he got into Wembanyama, the Spurs \u2014 rightfully cautious about their franchise cornerstone \u2014 pulled him from the game. Denver clawed back some ground. Then Keldon Johnson elbowed Jokic in the throat, sending the big man to the floor. No call. The Nuggets had to burn a timeout just to get Jokic breathing again. And still, through all of it, Jokic turned in a terrific first half. De\u2019Aaron Fox\u2019s buzzer-beater made it a seven-point Spurs lead at the break, but the deficit felt manageable given the whistles.<\/p>\n
The second half is where the Nuggets\u2019 identity emerged. Gordon, limping and battling, drilled a triple to cut it to three early in the third. Braun knocked down another from deep, San Antonio left him wide open all afternoon. He kept firing. Johnson was hitting.<\/p>\n
Then there was Bruce Brown, who had appeared in every game this season. He wen back to the locker room and was ruled ineligible to return because he couldn\u2019t take the jump ball \u2014 a cruel procedural quirk. And still, Denver hung around with a few solid surprise minutes from Tyus Jones.<\/p>\n
The fourth quarter is where we\u2019ve seen things shift a bunch for the Nuggets this year, as they\u2019ve struggled to finish and win in the clutch. Wembanyama scored with 9:08 left to push San Antonio\u2019s lead to 11. Entering Saturday, San Antonio was 48-2 this season in games where they held double-digit leads in the fourth quarter. They\u2019re 48-3 now \u2014 and two of those three losses have come against these Nuggets, who rallied from 13 down in the fourth to beat San Antonio on March 12 as well.<\/p>\n
Jamal Murray, quiet most of the day, popped off a screen while Jokic drove and kicked it to drilling a triple, giving Denver its first lead since the early moments. Then Devin Vassell jumped into Murray on a three-pointer, and the officials called the foul on Murray. It was a backbreaking call \u2014 one in a string of them all afternoon, the worst being that first-quarter sequence that produced the seven-point swing. Wembanyama set a new career high with 17 free throw attempts; at that same point, Denver had attempted 17 free throws total. The Spurs went up four with 2:12 left and Adelman called a panic timeout.<\/p>\n
And still, Denver stayed.<\/p>\n
Johnson completed a four-point play off a beautiful Jokic feed to cut it to two with 1:20 remaining. Gordon contested Wembanyama at the rim. Jokic missed in the post against a smaller defender. Wemby ran the ensuing break, threw an oop to Vassell, and the game seemed gone.<\/p>\n
But Jokic hit two free throws to make it a two-point game with 32 seconds left. The Nuggets then forced a shot clock violation \u2014 part of a defensive stretch over the final eight minutes of game time that was as good as they\u2019ve played all year. Then Adelman drew up a great play: Jokic on an immediate post entry, two defenders committed, and AG cut through the lane for a game-tying dunk with 6.2 seconds left.<\/p>\n
Gordon contested Wemby\u2019s buzzer attempt on the ensuing possession. Overtime.<\/p>\n
Jamal Murray \u2014 freaking awesome \u2014 dove headfirst into a Gatorade table to save a loose ball on the opening possession, got back into the play, then flipped a pass to Jokic.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was yelling, \u2018Go, go, go,\u2019 just to get it,\u201d Jokic said. \u201cMe and Jamal, playing so, so, so long together. He\u2019s such a competitor. Those big moments, he stepped up so many times offensively. And this was the kind of defensive possession by him to give us another opportunity to score. It was a great play. A big moment for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gordon threw down another massive overtime dunk against a Western Conference contender \u2014 the vibes were unmistakable. Then Johnson, left wide open at the top of the key, buried the biggest shot of his Nuggets tenure to push Denver\u2019s lead to four. Tim Hardaway Jr. sprinted off the bench to celebrate.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s fun, man. When the team gets hyped, that\u2019s a lot of fun,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cThat\u2019s what you play for, those moments right there. You feel the energy in the arena, in front of the bench.\u201d<\/p>\n
And then, up two with a minute left in overtime, Jokic was stuck on the wing with the ball and shot clock winding down. He backed Wembanyama to the elbow, then to the middle of the lane. Faked a pass to the left, then turned around and jumped backwards from 11 feet off of one leg. It was the Sombor Shuffle, right over Wembanyama\u2019s fully extended hand.<\/p>\n
It nicked the front iron and found goal.<\/p>\n
Holy heck.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cIf you guys remember two years ago, he actually blocked the same type of shot,\u201d Jokic said. \u201cI kind of threw it away and we lost the game. So I think it was nothing different. Maybe I just created a little bit more space. Who knows?\u201d<\/p>\n Wemby can’t believe what Jokic did to him \ud83d\ude2e pic.twitter.com\/7C9gJbDXSz<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) April 4, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n He did it again with nine seconds left \u2014 going up for a slightly risky shot given the time and score but putting just enough air on a floater from four feet to push it over Wemby for the dagger.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s like a bar game,\u201d Adelman said. \u201cIt\u2019s insane. I\u2019ve just never seen anybody who can shoot a floater like Nikola. It\u2019s almost like the more contested it is, the better it is. It goes through the net even cleaner. He just has such a knack for it.\u201d<\/p>\n Jokic scored seven of Denver\u2019s 12 overtime points. His final line: 40 points on 13-of-25 shooting and 13-of-15 from the line, plus 13 assists, eight rebounds, three blocks, and zero turnovers in 44 minutes of action. He became the first center in NBA history to record 40-plus points and 10-plus assists with zero turnovers.<\/p>\n This was his third consecutive 40-point outing against Wembanyama and the Spurs. He\u2019s scored more total points against Wembanyama than any other player in the NBA. He is the first big man this season to score 40-plus against San Antonio.<\/p>\n Along with Christmas Day against Minnesota<\/a>, where he torched another Frenchman who happens to be a DPOY, Saturday was one of Jokic\u2019s finest performances. And the fact that it was against Wembanyama had a lot to do with it.<\/p>\n Wemby\u2019s final line was immense in its own right: 34 points on 8-of-17 shooting with 16-of-17 from the free throw line, 18 rebounds, seven assists, and five blocks in a season-high 40 minutes.<\/p>\n When asked about Jokic, he was gracious.<\/p>\n \u201cI think he has opportunity, a chance to be the most unique basketball player ever played a game,\u201d Jokic said of Wemby. \u201cSo is it fun? Yes, but it\u2019s fun against everybody\u2026 I told you guys the first time I played against him that he\u2019s going to change basketball, and I still think that.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s a budding rivalry built on respect rather than animosity. It doesn\u2019t need bad blood to be compelling. The skill is the drama. The respect is the story, and everyone around it seems to understand they\u2019re watching something that won\u2019t come around again anytime soon.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re not going to see two people like this in many generations. The size of both these guys \u2014 we were laughing at the jump ball. Jokic is a big guy. He looks like a guard jumping center with Wemby,\u201d Adelman said. \u201cI do think they get up for each other. They both last night thought about what this was going to be. That\u2019s the bottom line. They\u2019re two of the best players alive.\u201d<\/p>\n Braun, who turned in a career day of his own \u2014 21 points, a career-high five threes on a career-high 11 attempts \u2014 put it simply: \u201cGetting to watch them and be a part of that game is really fun for me. They\u2019re different players. That fadeaway was an awesome shot. But for me, it seems like I\u2019ve seen him hit so many of those that I almost forgot about it. That\u2019s how crazy it is.\u201d<\/p>\n As somebody who has watched most of Jokic\u2019s career, I still found my mouth agape.<\/p>\n Just fun.<\/p>\n For the two best bigs on the planet, for a team coming together at the right time and for a sellout crowd at Ball Arena.<\/p>\n Seeking the No. 3 seed<\/p>\n The win moves Denver to 50-28, sitting half a game behind the Los Angeles Lakers in the race for the Western Conference\u2019s No. 3 seed with four games remaining in the regular season.<\/p>\n The math has been steep for the three, but a crushing 43-point Lakers loss to the Thunder \u2014 combined with injuries to Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves that will sideline both for the remainder of the regular season \u2014 has blown the door wide open. The Lakers need to lose two of their final five, and the Nuggets would need to win out for the teams to flip spots in the standings.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we are the three, it means that we\u2019re moving in the right direction to end the season,\u201d Adelman said. \u201cIf we end up in the four or five, I think we can still be going in the right direction, if that makes sense. But having home court will be great for routine. It makes that week easier for everybody. Calms you down.\u201d<\/p>\n There\u2019s also this: the Nuggets winning Saturday significantly increased the odds that their final two opponents \u2014 OKC and San Antonio \u2014 won\u2019t be playing for much by the time Denver faces them. The Thunder, at 61-16, may have clinched the No. 1 seed by midweek. The Spurs, locked into the two, could be resting guys by April 12 in San Antonio.<\/p>\n What\u2019s next for the Nuggets?<\/p>\n It\u2019s unlikely Peyton Watson plays in the Nuggets\u2019 last four games of the season, but it\u2019s worth watching his status \u2014 and Spencer Jones\u2019 \u2014 as Denver hits the final stretch. The Nuggets are home Monday, Wednesday and Friday this coming week, hosting the Thunder in a game that may not be of consequence to OKC by the time it tips. The season ends in San Antonio a week from Sunday, again in a game that may not be of importance to the two-seeded Spurs.<\/p>\n For Denver, the path is simple: win out and the three seed is theirs for the taking. Even if it doesn\u2019t materialize, Adelman\u2019s message is clear.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a great win,\u201d he said. \u201cSo was Utah. And I get tired of everybody missing that \u2014 these wins all count the same. We have 50. This one didn\u2019t count as six, it just counted as one.\u201d<\/p>\n Counted as one, sure. But for a team rounding into form with the playoffs<\/a> two weeks away \u2014 eight straight wins, the longest active streak in the NBA, their best victory of the season against one of the league\u2019s elite in comeback fashion \u2014 it felt like a whole lot more than that.<\/p>\n
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