Only one person could steal the microphone from Aaron Gordon, and that person did just that.

“AG, you’re done,” Nikola Jokic said, entering Gordon’s media availability after the Nuggets’ 128-125 overtime win over Phoenix late Sunday at Ball Arena.

Gordon obliged and made way for Jokic, who finished with 41 points, 15 rebounds and 15 assists for his league-leading seventh triple-double of the season.

“It’s unreal. It’s really like video-game numbers. That’s what me and my friends joke about all the time. It’s like numbers you can’t even put up in ‘2K,’” Gordon said, referencing the video game. “To do it so efficiently as well, it’s amazing. … He just looks like he does it so effortlessly.”

Gordon had a few video-game moments of his own, but his were more reminiscent of the not-so-realistic NBA Jam arcade game. With the Nuggets up a point in the final 30 second of overtime, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope pushed a rebound in Gordon’s direction. Gordon secured possession, raced up the right side of the court, creating a two-on-one advantage with Jokic to his left. Landry Shamet, the unfortunate soul caught between guarding Jokic and stopping Gordon on the break, debated for a beat. That was all Gordon needed to see.

“As soon as I saw him play that little cat-and-mouse (game) and kind of have a hesitation who he’s going to go to, I was like ‘All right, I’m just going to take off,’” Gordon recalled. “Then, he stepped over and kind of like bumped me. It just raised me up a little bit higher.”

One of the NBA’s plays of the year almost wasn’t, as Gordon was originally called for a charge on the play. A review reversed the call to a block and a potential three-point play.

“That Aaron Gordon dunk is … damn,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “I’m just glad they reviewed it and made the right call.”

Gordon missed his free throw but followed his own miss for his 13th rebound of the night. He was fouled again and made one free throw, his 28th and final point of the night, to put the Nuggets up four with 22 seconds left. The Suns had a shot to force a second overtime in the final 10 seconds, but Shamet, who hit seven 3-pointers on the night, couldn’t sink an eighth. Bruce Brown’s steal with 4 seconds left clinched the win that put the Nuggets alone atop the Western Conference standings.

While Jokic ended Gordon’s time in the spotlight prematurely, the back-to-back Most Valuable Player spent a good deal of his press conference praising the player who made the Nuggets’ play of the night, if not the season.

“He’s the guy who doesn’t, maybe, get a lot of credit, but he’s a really big part of this team,” Jokic said.

“He’s the soul of this team, if that makes any sense, because he can do everything on the floor. When he has a night like tonight, it’s really good.”

Murray Christmas

All the overtime excitement would never have happened if not for Jamal Murray’s takeover in the fourth quarter.

The Nuggets trailed by three to start the final period of regulation, but Murray’s second 3-pointer, an off-balance attempt from the corner just before the shot clock expired, tied it 25 seconds into the fourth.

“Jamal hits one. He hits another, and now he’s shooting into a hula hoop,” Malone said. “That’s when Jamal is at his best.”

That shot came with Murray staggering with Denver’s second unit. After a quick break, he returned to the court with the Nuggets down seven with 7:04 to mount a comeback.

Murray hit his third, fourth and fifth 3-pointers of the night in the next 4 minutes to put Denver ahead by one in the final 3 minutes of the fourth. The lead was short-lived, however, and the Nuggets needed Murray to drive for a dunk with 11 seconds left to force overtime.

“That was not the play, but that’s why I love to play with our group because we can think on the fly. That’s what happened,” Jokic said.

Murray inbounded the ball to Jokic with 15 seconds left. Deandre Ayton sagged off Jokic, so he flipped the ball right back to Murray. With Ayton hanging by Jokic and no help offered from the opposite side, the lane was wide open. Murray took a couple of dribbles and took off for the game-tying dunk that eventually forced an extra five minutes.

“I know Ayton didn’t want to leave Joker, who had like 40 (points) at the time,” Murray said. “If he did, it would have been a late pass to him, but I just saw a lane and went up.”

Murray scored 14 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter. He added five rebounds, five assists, two steals and a key block.

Up next

The Nuggets head to Sacramento for Tuesday’s 8 p.m. tipoff broadcast by Altitude