Aaron Gordon credited his Denver Nuggets team-mate Nikola Jokic after sinking the first game-winning, buzzer-beating dunk in NBA playoff history on Saturday, evening their series with the Los Angeles Clippers.

The Nuggets had blown a 22-point lead and were headed for overtime with Game 4 at Intuit Dome tied at 99-99, as Jokic let fly with a 3-point attempt.

That effort soared long over the basket with less than a second remaining, with the buzzer sounding as Gordon sprang for the rebound and slammed the ball through.

Both teams were left in suspense as the officials reviewed the play, with referee Zach Zarba ultimately concluding there was "clear and conclusive evidence that the ball was out of Gordon's hands when the red light came on to end the game."

"It has to be out of his hand when the red light came on," Zarba said in the pool report afterwards. 

"It's not the cylinder of the rim, it's whether it's in contact with his hand or not when that red light comes on."

Gordon's dramatic intervention sealed a 101-99 win and brought the Nuggets level in the first-round series at 2-2 ahead of Game 5, which is set for Ball Arena on Tuesday.

"I'm just trying to clean up everything on the glass. Those air balls are hard to defend and I was just in the right place at the right time," Gordon said after the game, before joking: "It was a nice pass."

Jokic, stood alongside him, replied: "No, it wasn't."

WHAT A NIGHT

Get some rest  pic.twitter.com/cEmZ2H2yUA

— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) April 27, 2025

The three-time NBA MVP kept his celebrations to a minimum when Gordon sank the dunk, fearing the ball may have left his hand a fraction of a second late. 

"I didn't want to have excitement and then go down," Jokic said. "So I was just like, 'Keep calm.' 

"I didn't know what happened, to be honest. I thought it was close, really close."

Jokic had 36 points, 21 rebounds and eight assists to lead the Nuggets, while Gordon had 14 points, six rebounds and five assists.