Nikola Jokic Powers Nuggets to Game 7 Win to Knock out Donovan Mitchell, Jazz

Nikola Jokic capped his 30-point, 14-rebound night by hitting the game-winning shot in the key with 27.8 seconds remaining as the Denver Nuggets held off the Utah Jazz 80-78 to win the series-deciding Game 7 of their first-round playoff matchup.         

A wild sequence of events ended this series.

Donovan Mitchell, who came into Game 7 averaging 38.7 points per contest in the playoffs, was stripped of the ball as he drove into the lane looking for the game-tying bucket with under 10 seconds left.

After Gary Harris got the steal, Nuggets guard Jamal Murray drove down the court and found teammate Torrey Craig for a potential game-sealing bucket, but the shot was off.

With no timeouts left, Jazz center Rudy Gobert grabbed the rebound and tossed the ball upcourt. Utah point guard Mike Conley Jr. drove down the left side and pulled up for the series-winning three, but the shot went in and out at the buzzer.

Notable Performances

Nuggets C Nikola Jokic: 30 points, 14 rebounds, 4 assists

Nuggets G Jamal Murray: 17 points, 4 assists, 2 rebounds

Nuggets F Michael Porter Jr.: 10 points, 9 rebounds, 2 steals

Jazz G Donovan Mitchell: 22 points, 9 rebounds, 1 assist

Jazz C Rudy Gobert: 19 points, 18 rebounds, 2 blocks

Jazz G Jordan Clarkson: 10 points, 3 rebounds, 1 steal

Jokic Wins Epic Battle of Big Men in Series Dominated by Guards

At times, this series played out like a game of NBA Jam, the famous two-on-two arcade basketball video game from the mid-1990s.

Murray and Mitchell took turns dropping buckets at eye-popping rates, while Jokic and Gobert did the dirty work down low. On Tuesday, no one outside that quartet scored more than 10 points.

Looking at the guards specifically, Murray scored 50 points in Games 4 and 6 and buffered those efforts with 42 in Game 5. Meanwhile, Mitchell was a walking bucket, scoring 57 in Game 1, 51 in Game 4 and 44 more in Game 6.

Game 7 figured to be an exciting conclusion between these two superstar guards, but that wasn't the case as both largely struggled on rare off-nights.

Mitchell went just 9-of-22 for his 22 points, but committed nine turnovers. Murray shot 7-of-21 and made just one three-pointer.

Meanwhile, Jokic and Gobert could almost do no wrong. The Denver big man went 12-of-23 and committed only two turnovers.

He scored 21 of the team's 30 second-half points, helping the Nuggets weather their frigid shooting slump and preventing the Jazz from coming all the way back from a 55-38 deficit early in the third quarter.

On the Utah side, Gobert was phenomenal. He scored 13 of his points in the final 13 minutes of the game, including an alley-oop dunk off a Conley feed with under a minute left to tie the game at 78.

He also notched a single-quarter double-double with 10 points and 12 boards in the final 12 minutes.

With the way Jokic and Gobert performed, it was only fitting that the game's most important (and eventually series-deciding) bucket came down to a battle between those two in the paint. Jokic needed to pull out all of his low-post moves to deke Gobert and put home the game-winning hook shot:

Ultimately, this game was a throwback to the low-scoring 1990s, in an era where big men dominated and scores in the 70s and 80s were commonplace. Denver had a pretty notable big man back then in Dikembe Mutombo, one of the best defensive players of his generation.

Like Jokic, he launched an epic playoff series comeback, leading his team to a 3-2 series win over the No. 1 seed Seattle SuperSonics in the first round of the NBA playoffs after falling 2-0.

Jokic and Murray's Nuggets overcame a 3-1 series deficit in this one. They needed a rock fight in the end to do it, but the big man came through as Denver earned its second straight Western Conference semifinals berth.

Donovan Mitchell Leaves Disney World Campus as Superstar On and Off Court

Mitchell entered the Disney World bubble as one of the game's stars, but he'll be heading back to Salt Lake City as one of the game's bona fide superstars and a likely perennial All-Pro after an epic playoff performance.

In addition, his actions off the court have cemented him as one of the game's best ambassadors in the fight for social justice.

Mitchell's first playoff game ended with him scoring 57 points, placing him third on the all-time single-game playoff scoring list behind legends Michael Jordan and Elgin Baylor. 

He also accomplished things that no player has ever done, per Stat Muse:

These were his final figures overall:

Mitchell was arguably the NBA's first-round playoff MVP despite being on the losing end of an epic playoff battle, and the future is very bright for the ex-Louisville star, who could be throwing himself into MVP conversations next season.

However, Mitchell's efforts off the court have been just as admirable, if not more so. He has been one of the league's most outspoken players in the fight against systemic racism and social injustice.

For example, he posted this on social media in 2019 after an ugly incident between a Jazz fan and then-Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook, who was reportedly the subject of verbal abuse:

He also spoke in favor of the Milwaukee Bucks' decision to sit Game 5 of their first-round playoff series against the Orlando Magic in protest of systemic racism in the wake of the police shooting of Jacob Blake.

In general, Mitchell has been very vocal in support of social justice, even using his platform to wear a bulletproof vest to a press conference as a statement on police brutality.

But Mitchell's comments after a devastating and painful Game 7 loss to Denver perhaps resonate the most.

It was a remarkable display of perspective from Mitchell, who had given everything he had for two weeks in this playoff series only to come up one bucket short in the end.

Mitchell is only 23 years old, though, and he should have plenty of time to engineer deeper playoff runs and perhaps NBA championship berths as well.

For now, Mitchell and Utah's season is over, but not without the memories of an incredible playoff series left behind.

What's Next?

The Nuggets will face reigning NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard and the Los Angeles Clippers in the second round of the playoffs beginning Thursday at 9 p.m. ET.

TNT will televise the game.