Denver Nuggets interim coach David Adelman gave Aaron Gordon heartfelt praise after a stellar buzzer beater dunk in Game 3 against the LA Clippers.
The score tied at 99, with seconds remaining, and Nikola Djokic threw the ball into the basket. And there they met Aaron Gordon, who dunked the ball to get the 101-99 victory in the night, when the Denver Nuggets dunked the ball.
Gordon was spectacular all night, scoring 14 points, grabbing six rebounds and five assists.
He was also great defensively, making it difficult to score as the LA Clippers were 15 points behind in the fourth quarter with one point.
However, Norman Powell and James Harden played clutches to get their teams back into the game just to get Gordon to finish in normal times with a spectacular dunk.
After the game, Adelman praised Gordon for his big play at the clutch.
Adelman was an assistant coach for the Orlando Magic when Gordon was a star of the team.
He stated how the 29-year-old matured and took over his new responsibility to become a role player for the team after coming from Magic, a star in the franchise.
Speaking of Gordon, Adelman said: “It’s something special beyond the Nuggets, and I’m with Aaron from Orlando, and I’m seeing him grow and mature in the last year, and I’m seeing him in Orlando and working on his skill set, and I’m coming to teams like us, and I’m going to say, “
“He starts off attacks and defends some of the best players in the NBA, you can post him, he can go one-on-one, you can iso him against a smaller guy, you can put him on a smaller offensive player.
“There are certain people in our league that we define as a championship piece. We’re way too many, he’s one of those people, he’s that definition, and he’s always been the case since he got to us.”
Gordon moved to the Nuggets in 2021 and has been a key reason ever since being a title contender for the franchise.
Even in the championship winning season, Gordon made some big plays and contributed to both ends to help his team.
He was a magical star, but he had no chance of success there as the team wasn’t ready to build a championship competitor around him.
In Nuggets, Gordon’s role was always different, but he never did his best.
Even former coach Michael Malone praised Gordon’s selfishness.
His physicality not only allows him to be a defensively threat, but Gordon is also growing offensively.
He can do great things around the rims, and the buzzer beater dunk in Game 3 is proof of that.
When he began his career, Gordon was a poor three-point shooter, but that’s changing now.
Joke at the forefront of MVPs, Nuggets need someone who can eject shots, and often Gordon.
Despite having a year of injuries suffered, he shot a career-high 43.6% beyond the Ark.