OKLAHOMA CITY — The legend of Aaron Gordon’s greatest dunk grows by the day.
Since arriving in Denver, he has 575 of them in the regular season and 96 more in the playoffs, comprising about 19% of his field goal attempts with the Nuggets. Countless alley-oops from Nikola Jokic. Thunderous put-backs. A breathtaking Christmas poster that’ll be remembered for decades in Colorado.
But with his buzzer-beater dunk in Game 4 of the first round this year, he achieved an immortality that will transcend Nuggets lore. It belongs among the great NBA playoff highlights since 2000. Adding to its significance was an element of physical sacrifice, outlined by interim coach David Adelman on Monday.
“He’s taking a chance every time he explodes and jumps,” Adelman said before the Nuggets tipped off their second-round series against the Thunder. “We know what he’s doing for our team. We know that there’s a risk there.”
He’s referring to Gordon’s right calf, which caused him to miss 31 games this season and come off the bench in nine others. After straining it last November and sitting out for an initial 10-game window, the injury has lingered all season, including a re-strain in December. Often, he has played through pain and soreness, including throughout the playoffs so far.
“It’s the ultimate day-to-day with Aaron,” Adelman said. “I will say that Aaron, through those last three games into the playoffs, has pushed that thing. … And if it was during the regular season, I don’t think this would be happening. I think we would be managing him, just like he was taking games off, trying to get to the end.”
Gordon has a valid case as the most valuable player of the seven-game series between the Nuggets and Clippers. He averaged 18.9 points per game — 4.2 more than his regular-season average — while contributing 5.7 rebounds, 2.1 assists and formidable defense against Kawhi Leonard.
Gordon tied the series with his walk-off dunk and was Denver’s leading scorer in Game 7. He punished his mismatch with James Harden by establishing deep seals in transition. He pushed Leonard off his spots and made the robotic jump-shooter labor for his points after a dominant Game 2.
“How good was he in Game 7?” Adelman said. “So efficient. Did so many small things. … Aaron is incredible, man. The Game 4 play he made. That’s an all-time series for Aaron Gordon.”
The Nuggets will need another one from him — under increasingly challenging circumstances — if they want any chance of hanging with the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder. This is the first time Denver has won a seven-game series and dealt with the subsequent turnaround since the 2020 bubble.
It’s a cutthroat schedule. Not only was there one day between Game 7 and the second-round series opener, but the first six games against Oklahoma City will all be played with one day between them. True rest days are no longer a luxury.
“I think the advantage is rest,” Adelman said Monday night. “I always do.”
He also said that he felt his team was in a good place. Its superstar, Nikola Jokic, even prefers the rhythm of playing every other day over having two rest days, one source told The Denver Post.
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And Oklahoma City is an especially young, especially daunting barricade in Denver’s way.
“I had a really good friend the other day make me feel awful,” Adelman said after Game 7 against the Clippers. “I said, ‘Yeah, if we win this series, we’ve gotta play a team that’s 68-14.’ He said, ‘No, man, they’re 72-14.’ I said, ‘Oh, OK. That’s right. Appreciate you, bro.’”
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