Nobody could have predicted what Denver Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon would do in their season opener.
Sure, the former fourth overall pick caught people’s attention when he shot a career-high 43.6% from 3 while taking 3.4 attempts 3-point attempts per game in the 2024-25 regular season. After all, he had only made 32.3% of his career 3s at that point. However, when he and the Nuggets faced the Golden State Warriors in San Francisco on Thursday, it’s as if he had channeled the powers of Stephen Curry himself. While typically an interior scoring threat, his first seven shots of the game all came from the 90210.
He made all of them.
Aaron Gordon Has Perfect Postgame Reaction After 50 Point Night
By the time Gordon hit his seventh straight three, everyone knew they were in for a special night. Again, his performance was entirely unprecedented. Entering the season, his single-game career-high in made 3s was 7, which he notched against the Phoenix Suns on March 7, 2025. In just under 39 minutes, he went 7-10 from 3-point range, finishing with 27 points.
Three minutes into the third quarter, Gordon walked into his eighth 3-pointer, marking a career-high. The Nuggets went up 79-68, and all the Warriors could do was accept what was happening. Like clockwork, Gordon converted his ninth 3-pointer three minutes into fourth quarter, bringing him up to 37 points. In a two-minute stretch, he was the only player Denver had that could score, breaking his single-game career-high with 42 points after an and-one free-throw. The Nuggets were up 109-100.
Aaron Gordon’s HISTORIC 50 PT Opening Night vs Warriors | October 23, 2025
17/21 FG (81.0%), 10/11 3PT (90.9%), 6/6 FT, 8 Rebounds, 2 Assists (2 TOV), 1 Block, and a +/- of -1 in 38:39 minutes played.
Via:https://t.co/YIagBMCpyj pic.twitter.com/Y8KtPpVZIr
— MrBuckBuck (@MrBuckBuckNBA) October 24, 2025
Then, Nuggets head coach David Adelman started to go away from Gordon, trusting Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray to close the game.
Are You Joking?
Of course, going to Jokic and Murray in the clutch has been a large part of Denver’s formula since becoming title-contenders.
Yet, everyone knows to feed the hot hand. Unfortunately for the Nuggets, Jokic’s touch was uncharacteristically rough in the season opener. After Gordon scored his 42nd point, Jokic went 1-5 from the field and 1-2 from the free-throw line. Murray, who had played well up until that point, wasn’t much better. In that same stretch, he was 1-4 from the field.
Meanwhile, Gordon would make a much-needed 10th 3-pointer with 26 seconds left to put Denver up by three points (120-117). The next time down the court, Curry would tie the game with his own trey in a story as old as time. When Jokic missed a layup at the end of regulation, they went to overtime.
https://t.co/CABhYBU6dG pic.twitter.com/XrhCU9lUjP
— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) October 24, 2025
In OT, Gordon State struck first with another 3 from Curry. Gordon then scored an old-fashioned three —that is, a bucket and and-one. When the Nuggets followed that up with the Murray-Jokic two-man game, the Joker pulled a trick out of his sleeve to hit a tough pull-up 2 over Draymond Green. It wasn’t enough, as Al Horford knocked down a 3 to give the Warriors the lead in the following possession. After Murray turned the ball while being double-teamed, Jonathan Kuminga scored to give Golden State their first back-to-back buckets of the period.
With the Dubs up three points and two minutes left in overtime, Gordon didn’t get to score again until there were 20 seconds left, getting his 50th point on a driving dunk. Instead, Adelman went back to Jokic, who missed two 3-pointers and a layup in the final two minutes. The Warriors would end up winning the nail-biter, 137-131.
‘I Don’t Want The Game Ball’
After the game, Gordon discussed his career night in the locker room:
“They’re asking if I wanted the game ball,” he tells reporters (h/t DNVR Nuggets), “and no, I don’t want the game ball to take an L home with me. No thank you.”
“They’re asking if I wanted the game ball, and no, I don’t want the game ball to take an L home with me. No thank you.”
– Aaron Gordon pic.twitter.com/Ykoz6tJC73
— DNVR Nuggets (@DNVR_Nuggets) October 24, 2025
Gordon, who has matured rapidly on and off the court, was able to put the loss in perspective. In his postgame presser, he noted that it was the Nuggets first game of the season, that the Warriors are “a really good team,” and that it’s exceedingly difficult to win on the road without proper execution. He refrained from complaining about not being utilized more at the end of the game.
In sum, Gordon’s comments after the game highlight his winning mentality. In turn, that reflects the Nuggets culture, as Gordon came to the franchise after leaving one (the Orlando Magic) that was 174-254 with him on the court. It’s these types of intangibles that lend credence to the belief Denver will get it right, eventually. They also underscore Gordon’s importance to the team. It was already known that he’s a connector on the court but he doesn’t get enough credit for his selflessness and seriousness, as well as the example that sets for his current and future teammates.
© Bob Kupbens-Imagn Images
