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[Saba Sports News] In one of the most dramatic finishes in recent NBA Playoff history, the Denver Nuggets pulled off a stunning 121-119 comeback win over the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 1 of their second-round series Monday night.
The Thunder appeared to have the game in hand late but made a series of questionable decisions. Leading by three with 10.1 seconds left, Alex Caruso committed an intentional foul on Aaron Gordon in the backcourt—despite Oklahoma City being in the penalty.
Gordon calmly sank both free throws, trimming the lead to one. Moments later, Chet Holmgren was fouled but missed both of his attempts from the line, opening the door for Denver. Gordon then hit a game-winning three-pointer to complete the rally.
While much of the postgame criticism focused on the late-game fouling strategy and Holmgren’s missed free throws, Caruso pointed to a broader breakdown.
“Caruso mentions that the five minutes before the final sequence (Chet’s FTs, Gordon’s 3) are probably what lost them the game,” reported Joel Lorenzi of The Oklahoman. Caruso, who scored 20 points in the loss, added, “We gave them \[Nuggets] a couple FTs where they didn’t have to earn it.”
In the final six minutes, Denver outscored OKC 21-11 and hit 11 of 14 free throws. The Thunder, by contrast, went just 2-for-4 from the line in that stretch.
Head coach Mark Daigneault defended the team’s end-game strategy, saying, “It didn’t go our way tonight, but it’s worked out well for us in the past. We’ll continue to look at it and learn from it, but I don’t think that’s why we lost the game.”