Nikola Jokic says he knew 3 that stunned Warriors was going in - ESPN

SAN FRANCISCO — Denver Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon inbounded the ball to center Nikola Jokic with 3.6 seconds left in the fourth quarter against the Golden State Warriors and the score tied.

Jokic took three dribbles down the right side of the court and then launched a 39-foot 3-pointer over the head of Warriors center Kevon Looney.

From the vantage point of the Nuggets bench, it looked dead on.

«As it left his hands, all the coaches in the back were saying, 'That's on line. That's going in,'» Nuggets coach Michael Malone said.

«I don't know if it was something in my intuition or what, but I knew we weren't going to OT. I knew Joker was going to hit that shot,» forward Peyton Watson said.

And he did. Jokic's shot banked off the glass and rattled in, sealing the Nuggets' 130-127 win over the Warriors. Even Jokic knew it was going in.

«That was the last option with that play,» Jokic said. «I just took a shot. I think those shots are the easiest shots to take. You don't have any other options. So actually, when I felt it, I thought, 'Oh, I'm going to bank this.' You can see the flight of the ball, and I just knew I was going to bank it.»

That was the sealing shot on a 25-4 Nuggets run over the final 6:45 of the game, including a 13-0 run.

«The thing with Nikola, I love the fact that he gets to his spot, he gets set and he just shoots his shot,» Gordon said. «He doesn't let the defense alter it at all. When he shoots his shot, there is always a chance he'll make it.»

Jokic finished with 34 points on 13-of-15 shooting, 10 assists and nine rebounds. Gordon added 30 points on 11-of-17 shooting, and guard Jamal Murray had 25 points on 8-of-16 shooting.

But heading into the fourth, Denver trailed by 18, after the Warriors