Dramatic endings as Nuggets and Knicks shock Thunder and Celtics in conference semifinal openers

By Ben Morse, CNN

(CNN) — Monday evening in the NBA was filled with plenty of late playoff drama as the Denver Nuggets and New York Knicks picked up shocking road victories in their respective Game 1’s against the Oklahoma City Thunder and Boston Celtics.

The Nuggets capped off a 14-point comeback with a game-winning three-pointer from Aaron Gordon to knock off the Western Conference’s No. 1-seeded Thunder, prevailing 121-119.

And earlier in the day, the Knicks came back from 20 points down to beat the Celtics 108-105 in overtime of their opening game of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Here’s how an eventful night of NBA playoff action played out.

Nuggets shock Thunder on the road

While the Thunder entered the Western Conference semifinals riding high off an emphatic four-game sweep of the Memphis Grizzlies, the Nuggets came into the series needing a Game 7 to beat the Los Angeles Clippers in a hard-fought contest.

The Thunder are many people’s favorites for the NBA title after finishing with a league-best record of 68-14 while Denver has had a turbulent season, firing head coach Michael Malone a few games before the end of the regular season.

And Game 1 of the series between the two began like many people expected, with the Thunder dominating proceedings and having their way of things.

The clash between the two teams sees a match-up between two frontrunners for this season’s MVP award – Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Thunder and Nikola Jokić of the Nuggets.

The pair shone brightly in Game 1 with Gilgeous-Alexander racking up 33 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists and two steals and Jokić posting a monster stat-line of 42 points, 22 rebounds, six assists and two blocks.

But in the end, it was another Nuggets player who made the difference after a controversial decision by the Thunder.

After Gilgeous-Alexander dunked to give the Thunder a three-point lead with 11 seconds left, Oklahoma City decided to foul Gordon without running time off the clock. The Nuggets forward converted both free throws to cut the lead to one before Denver’s Russell Westbrook fouled center Chet Holmgren with 9.5 seconds remaining.

Holmgren missed both of his attempts and Nuggets guard Christian Braun grabbed the rebound, passing the ball to Westbrook who in turn set up Gordon’s triple and leaving Oklahoma City 2.8 seconds to respond.

Thunder guard Jalen Williams attempted a heave from deep in his half as time expired, but the ball hit the backboard and bounced away, sparking wild celebrations from the Denver squad.

The game-winning shot from Gordon is his second final-minute, game-winning moment of this postseason already after his dunk in Game 4 against the Clippers turned that series on its head.

“We just didn’t want to miss the moment, didn’t want to miss the opportunity,” Gordon said afterwards. “We knew that if we waited, it may be too late. I’m glad we showed our mettle, our grit, but we’re not satisfied.”

The Nuggets will provide a stern test for the Thunder through their combination of size and all-around magic in Jokić, with a potential all-time series brewing between two contenders as Game 2 in Oklahoma City looms on Wednesday.

Knicks take advantage of Celtics historically poor shooting performance

The Celtics were many people’s preseason favorites to repeat this season after maintaining the core of their 2024 championship-winning team while the Knicks retooled in the offseason with title aspirations of their own.

And in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals between the two on Monday, it was the reigning champions who looked seasoned on this stage.

Boston – playing with all six of its most important players for just the 19th time in 88 games this season – had built a 20-point lead in the second half, although the team lost center Kristaps Porziņģis at halftime due to an illness.

Although they held a lead, the Celtics’ usual proficiency from beyond the three-point line went historically awry. Boston set two unwanted records in Game 1, for the most three-pointers attempted and missed in a playoff game, misfiring on 45 attempts as they shot 15-for-60 (25%) from deep.

The Celtics’ reliance on shots from deep allowed New York to grow back into the game through two its star players, Jalen Brunson and OG Anunoby.

The pair combined for 39 points over the final 23 minutes of the game in which the Knicks outscored the Celtics 53-30 to send the game to OT.

In front of a raucous, hostile TD Garden crowd, Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns had big buckets in the extra period and the Knicks defense was able to step up to halt the Celtics.

Brunson and Anunoby finished with 29 points each as the Knicks stole Game 1 with Game 2 set for Wednesday night.

“We told each other just keep believing. Just keep fighting and sticking together and keep chipping away. There wasn’t going to be a 20-point shot,” Brunson said afterwards.

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