Nikola Jokic joined Michael Jordan while the Nuggets made more history in Game 1 thriller

Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets made history in multiple ways on Monday night as they pulled off the upset over the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 1

BY TRENT FINNEGAN

May 6, 2025, 2:14 PM

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The Denver Nuggets stole Game 1 on the road against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday night thanks to a one-of-a-kind performance from Nikola Jokic and a game-winning 3-pointer from Aaron Gordon. Denver was counted out heading into the game due to factors such as depth and rest, but the odds being against them didn’t bother anyone.

In the win, Nikola Jokic joined Michael Jordan in the upper echelon of the playoff record books as he record his 24th-consecutive 20-point road playoff game with 42 points in the win. This is now the longest streak by any player in the NBA since Jordan did it in 37 straight games from 1990 to 1995. The last time that Jokic didn’t eclipse the 20-point tally was in Game 4 of the 2021 Western Conference First Round against the Portland Trail Blazers. He had 16 points on 7-of-18 from the field and only played 26 minutes in a 115-95 loss.

After that loss, Jokic responded with 38 and 36 points in the following two games to close out the series.

Monday was also the fourth time that Jokic has scored at least 40 points in a road game in his playoff career.

While Jokic made individual history in the win, the Nuggets made history as a team as well in the win. Coming into Monday’s contest, no team had beat an opponent who won at least 65 games in the regular season while having a rest disadvantage of at least a week. Not counting the regular season wins, teams that came off a seven-game serious that were playing a team coming off a sweep have also fared poorly in recent years (including the Miami Heat in the 2023 NBA Finals against Denver).

NBA playoff teams (Thunder) coming off a 4-game sweep against a team (Nuggets) coming off a long 7-game series is a clear rest disadvantage as these playoff teams are just (3-12) ATS going back 10+ years in the NBA playoffs… pic.twitter.com/1FiRoy63M8

— Shayne Trail (@ShayneTrail) May 5, 2025

The records are great for the Nuggets, but they now have another short turnaround with just one day of rest in between Game 1 and Game 2. The Nuggets were counted out by many people in Game 1, and are again for Wednesday’s contest as the Thunder are favored by 11 points.

Game 2 tips off from Oklahoma City at 7:30 p.m. Denver time on Wednesday and will be broadcast on TNT.