‘I would dunk it every time if I could’

Gordon’s clutch slams part of the Nuggets’ championship DNA

Aaron Gordon couldn’t tell exactly who said it, but the comment he heard from the Boston Celtics’ bench was an accurate reflection of every individual’s reaction in the building.

“The Celtics bench was like, ‘Yo, what the (expletive) was that?’” Gordon said.

On his own bench at the opposite end of the floor, he located a trustworthy barometer of slamdunk absurdity.

Deandre Jordan was falling backward, destabilized by the power of Gordon’s put-back.

“DJ is hilarious with the facial expressions,” Gordon said. “… He knows what it’s like to have crazy dunks. He’s had some wild dunks, so if he’s like, ‘That was nuts,’ then I know it’s valid.”

Gordon’s one-handed slam after a Nikola Jokic miss helped delay Boston’s late comeback, giving the Nuggets a 109-102 lead with 2:12 remaining. And it wasn’t even his most clutch dunk of the night in a 115-109 win over the Nba-best Celtics.

With fewer than 30 seconds left and the Nuggets (43-20) protecting a two-point lead, they isolated Jokic against Kristaps Porzingis late in the shot clock. He attacked the Boston center with two spin moves then lobbed an alley-oop for Gordon, who had snuck behind Jayson Tatum on the baseline. It was good for a 113-109 lead with 19.8 seconds left — essentially a game-clinching dunk in Denver’s biggest home game of the regular season.

“He’s the best dunker I’ve ever seen in my life,” said Peyton Watson, who is building his own catalogue of emphatic slams this season.

Gordon’s eight made field goals Thursday night included seven dunks.

In eight games since the Allstar break, 25 of his 49 made shots have been dunks. Gordon’s greatest trait may be his frontcourt defense and positional versatility — he’ll play starting power forward and backup center in the playoffs — but his command of the dunker spot and athleticism around the rim are increasingly vital aspects of Denver’s championship DNA.

“I would dunk it every time if I could,” Gordon said.

Recent games have revealed just how vital. Last weekend at

the Lakers, Jokic lobbed to Gordon in the last 45 seconds of the game to cement a dominant crunchtime run. On Thursday at Ball Arena, the lob stopped a Celtics comeback in its tracks. Even before the alley-oop out of Jokic’s iso, Denver was taking advantage of Joe Mazzulla’s defensive coverages to feed Gordon through the air.

“Tonight they were switching. So now you’re switching the pick-androll, which means Nikola’s got a small on him at the nail,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “So