The Playoff THRILLER That Lasted FOREVER (4 Overtimes)

Do you remember the exhausting 4 OT’s thriller between the Nuggets and the Blazers where Nikola Jokic played for 65 minutes…? Wait, WHAT!? Yeah, both him and CJ McCollum logged in 60+ minutes in a deathmatch that seemingly lasted forever… Game 3 turned into an instant classic, and we need to take a closer look, so let’s start from the beginning. This was a breakout season for the Joker. As a 23 year old, he earned his first all-star nod and alongside Murray, Paul Milsap and Gary Harris made a huge leap from 46 wins in the previous season, to a 54 win year which secured Denver the 2nd seed in the West. Portland was right behind them at number 3, with both Dame and CJ in their prime, backed up by a great season from Jusuf Nurkic who unfortunately fractured his leg 3 weeks before the playoffs. However, they got some quality minutes from Enes Kanter and managed to snatch game 2 from the Nuggets in Denver. That leads us to one of the most epic clashes in years… In a game full of ups and downs with 24 lead changes we’re going straight to the 4th quarter for this rare 2 handed slam by CJ. Baby face Jokic responds with 2 straight buckets to keep his team within striking distance. And Jammal Murray was able to tie the game after the steal and score in transition. Look at 21 year old Murray taking Kanter for a couple of dances on the perimeter. Jammal connects on both of them to take a 5 point lead in the clutch. But the Blazers have Dame Ti... No no no, Maurice Harkless. Out of all people, Mo Harkless drops two in a row to tie the game with 1 minute remaining. And the entire building erupts when Will Burton loses the ball on one end, and then Damian Lillard retakes the lead on the other. Burton quickly redeemed himself on the next possession, when… Regardless, the Blazers can win the game if they can score here… Al Farouq Aminu gets a wide open look but hits the back iron and Mike Malone calls a timeout for one last prayer with 1.8 seconds on the clock. Nikola can’t catch the inbound pass and we go to overtime. And the extra 5 minutes turned into a shootout between McCollum and Murray because… And here’s a completely forgotten moment from this game that drew a smile on my face. Jokic waited for Jammal to put on his shoe for too long, so his pass got intercepted by CJ. Both him and Murray were the only ones scoring for their teams for 4 straight minutes, when Paul Milsap finally broke the streak. Down 2 with little time left, Lillard has the faith of the Blazers in his hands. Dame misses the mid-range and now Denver is in a great position to put an end to this game, but then… Lillard comes up huge on the defensive end, leading to another bucket by CJ to tie the score. Unbelievable. However, the Nuggets still have 4 seconds to silence the crowd. Jokic gets the shot off but misses badly and we’re headed to double overtime. Dame Dolla was struggling shooting the ball until this point, just 1 of 6 from beyond the arc. But he gets this one to fall from way downtown. A 5 point lead and a total madness in Portland. This gotta be the beginning of the end for the Nuggets. Wait, wait, wait… Not so fast… Will and Paul tied the game once again, and Burton comes up with a monster block on CJ on the other end as well. But McCollum is relentless, and he responds with an extremely tough bucket. Now, Gary Harris will remind us that he was a baller back in the day. And after 58 minutes of action, you can clearly see that the players are exhausted as bodies start falling left and right on this possession. Denver successfully defends themselves, leading to Nikola up top who has another chance to seal the deal from long range. Jokic misses yet another shot in the clutch, putting Lillard in a similar scenario to what happened 10 days prior. So, can he do it again? If Dame can’t hit it, CJ certainly will. He played like a man possessed in the extra periods. McCollum sends the entire arena into a delirium with his 41st point of the night, forcing Malone to call a timeout. Luckily for Denver, that was the end of CJ’s scoring, so they used that to go on a mini 8-0 run and turn things around in their favor. People forget that Paul Milsap was butter from mid-range. All of a sudden, the Nuggets are up by 4. Can they hang on to the lead for 30 more seconds? Well… Dame says - nope. Look at Lillard exploding past Torrey Craig twice like it’s the 1st quarter, and not like he played for 53 minutes. Amazing. But like many times in this game, Denver will have the final shot before the buzzer. And this time, it’s Jammal Murray’s turn. Jammal overestimates his abilities and we go to a record breaking - 4th extra period for the 1st time in playoffs history. That’s astonishing. We gotta give credit to everyone included here. I mean, there were 10 guys on the floor logging 40+ minutes and it all came down to who’s got more stamina at the end. Will Burton looked the freshest, as he was the only one putting the ball in the basket for Denver.

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