Nuggets make costly mistakes late in Game 2 loss vs. Clippers

Aaron Gordon is one of the greatest dunkers in NBA history, but when he had a wide-open path to the rim with under three minutes to go, he clanked his attempt off the rim to give the Clippers the ball out of bounds and preserve their one-point lead.

One minute later, Michael Porter, Jr. corralled a Kawhi Leonard miss, then looked to throw an outlet pass. He passed the ball to no one, letting Norman Powell pick up the loose ball. Compounding his mistake, Porter lay on the ground, forcing the Nuggets to play 4-on-5. Powell got the ball back and sank a three-pointer, which would end up as the margin of victory in the Clippers' 105-102 win.

Those weren't the only Nuggets' mistakes in a game where they committed 20 turnovers, the same as the Clippers did in their Game 1 loss. Nikola Jokic threw away a pass with the Nuggets down three in the final seconds, one of his seven turnovers.

But those first two plays were brutal, unforced errors. Without them, the Nuggets would be heading to Los Angeles with a 2-0 series lead, instead of a 1-1 tie. At that point, winning two out of five games should have been, with apologies to Gordon, a slam dunk.