Aaron Gordon was a man on a mission for the entirety of the 2024-25 season, as he took his game to the next level and helped make up for the Denver Nuggets' lack of depth. If it weren't for a hamstring strain that slowed him down in Game 7 of their second-round playoff clash against the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Nuggets may have gotten past that hump. But now, the Nuggets' roster is more stacked, and Gordon, during Media Day, made it clear that he'd be focusing on the defensive end of the court.
But for the Nuggets' season-opening game against the Golden State Warriors, Gordon decided that he'd cosplay as Stephen Curry for the day. Gordon, who's earned the nickname “Mr. Nugget”, finished with a career-high 50 points after making 10 triples, including eight consecutive at one point. Alas, it wasn't enough as the Nuggets took a 137-131 loss at the hands of the still-unbeaten Dubs.
In the process of doing so, Gordon has now scored the most points of any player in Nuggets history in a season-opener, breaking the record that Alex English set (48 points) nearly 40 years ago (October 25, 1985), according to Troy Renck of The Denver Post.
Gordon also drained a triple that could have given the Nuggets the win at the end of regulation had it not been for the actual Curry clapping back towards the end of regulation and in overtime en route to a 137-131 loss for Denver. He is continuing his incredible shooting pace that began last season, when he jumped from a low-30s shooter from deep (in terms of percentage) all the way to 43.6 percent.
The 30-year-old forward has embraced his role as a superstar supporting player, and the Nuggets have to be thanking their lucky stars that he's still a part of this roster that has championship ambitions.
Nikola Jokic, Nuggets run out of steam in OT
Jokic had a triple-double (21 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 assists) and was a star for the Nuggets on the night. However, he couldn't make his threes when it mattered. Jokic did miss a few treys in crunch time, which was in stark contrast to how the Warriors seemed to make every single triple when it mattered. Curry hit a three to start overtime, which was then followed up by triples from Al Horford and Jimmy Butler, essentially putting the game out of Denver's reach.
Jokic will be better as the season progresses. He's not going to shoot 13 threes every single night anyway.
