The Denver Nuggets, led by MVP candidate Nikola Jokić, are rounding into championship form as the NBA regular season winds down.
The Nuggets have now won eight straight games after securing a 136-134 overtime win at home against the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday.
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The Spurs had a massive first quarter, scoring 43 points and pulling away from the Nuggets early on. But Denver rolled all the way back, and in the final seconds of regulation, Aaron Gordon’s cutting dunk tied the game at 124-124 to force overtime.
Nikola Jokić, who finished with 40 points, 13 assists, 8 rebounds and 3 blocks, sunk two free throws in the final seconds of OT to ice the game.
Dylan Harper’s long 3-pointer went in at the buzzer, but it was too little, too late for San Antonio, which saw its 11-game winning streak snapped.
Victor Wembanyama’s MVP campaign continued as well, with the Spurs center putting up 34 points, 18 rebounds, 7 assists and 5 blocks, but his herculean effort fell just short.
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San Antonio is very comfortably second in the Western conference with four games left on its schedule. The Spurs, with a 59-19 record, sit two wins back of the Oklahoma City Thunder and 8.5 games ahead of the third-place Los Angeles Lakers.
For the Nuggets, though, the win gives them a boost. The Nuggets are neck-and-neck with the Los Angeles Lakers for that third spot in the West, with both teams currently at 50 wins, although the Lakers are now without Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves. Every win also puts Denver further away from the Houston Rockets and Minnesota Timberwolves, who sit two and four wins, respectively, away from fourth place.
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The Nuggets and Spurs will meet again in San Antonio for the regular-season finale on April 12.
