Nikola Jokić and Victor Wembanyama gave Denver a game that felt bigger than April basketball, and the Nuggets outlasted the Spurs 136-134 in overtime Saturday before a sellout crowd. Jokić finished with 40 points, 13 assists, eight rebounds and zero turnovers in 44 minutes, while Wembanyama answered with 34 points, 18 rebounds, seven assists and five blocks.
The game turned in the final seconds of regulation, when Jokić found Aaron Gordon for a dunk with 6.2 seconds left to tie it, then took over in overtime. He lifted Denver to a 133-129 lead with a rainbow shot over Wembanyama from 11 feet, then added a floater from 7 feet with 9.8 seconds left to help close it out. Jokić said Wembanyama had blocked a similar shot a few years ago, but this time he said he just created a little more space.
Christian Braun added 21 points for Denver, and Julian Champagnie scored 18 points on six 3-pointers for San Antonio. Braun summed up the night simply: these are the games you live for. Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said it felt like there were high stakes from the first possession, and that it was a really fun game to be a part of.
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The matchup came with both coaches stumping for their own player in the NBA's Most Valuable Player race before tipoff, and it looked like the kind of showdown that could show up again in the playoffs. Denver coach David Adelman said he would pay to watch these two teams play, called the game very good basketball and said it was good for sports. He also said Jokić is the best player in the world.
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That is the part that made Saturday matter beyond the box score. Denver has one of the league's sharpest closers, and San Antonio has a 7-foot-4 force who can change the geometry of a game on both ends. Put them in the same building, and the margin disappears fast. On this night, it took overtime and a pair of late Jokić shots to separate them.
