CNN
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Nicola Jokic lived under his nickname on Friday and arrived at the Ball Arena dressed in a Joker-inspired purple and green suit, helping the Denver Nuggets in a dramatic 113-104 overtime victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 3 of the Playoff Series.
That victory guaranteed the Nuggets to take a 2-1 lead in the series. After “The Joker” arrived in such a way, despite predicting that “The Joker” would provide one of his extraordinary performances, Oklahoma effectively suppressed Jokic, who had missed 17 of his 25 shots, including all three pointers, effectively suppressing Jokic, who scored eight turnovers.
Still, he finished with 20 points, 16 rebounds and six assists. This is a respectable return for almost every other player who does not have his own high standard.
“I mean, it’s just 20, 16, 6, awful NBA nights,” joked Nuggets manager David Adelman.
The Nuggets’ attacks were happy to share the points, knocking down the lightning behind Jamal Murray’s 27, Aaron Gordon’s 22 and Michael Porter Jr.’s 21.
Both teams tied together at 102 at the end of the regulation time, with Jokic losing the Nugget’s buzzer beater after fellow MVP frontrunner Shy Gilgauss Alexander missed a chance to beat the Thunder seconds ago.
Like Jokic, Gilgauss Alexander was kept quiet, adding 18 points in a 7/22 shoot, 10 rebounds and 4 assists. Jalen Williams led the way to Thunder with a playoff career-high 32 points.
Thunder has the chance to level the series on Sunday when the two teams go to the court next.
Elsewhere, the Cleveland Cavaliers held back the Indiana Pacers’ comeback, securing a 126-104 victory on Friday, pulling back to the playoff series.
The Cavs looked much more like the team that won the top seed at the Eastern Conference, as key players Darius Garland, Evan Mobley and DeAndre Hunter returned from injury and were kicked out of Game 2. Currently they are down 2-1 and will try to level the series in Game 4 on Sunday.
Donovan Mitchell led the score with 43 points, a consecutive game with 43 points or more.
Having many players from injuries was a “big boost,” Cavs manager Kenny Atkinson later told reporters. “We weren’t sure until the time they were going to play until 35. We’re a different team, right?”
Cleveland has earned a comfortable lead for most of the game. The Pacers launched a mini comeback, cutting it to 11 points in fourth place, but the Cavs ultimately managed to get a comfortable victory as they lost a 3-0 deficit approaching.