Russell Westbrook, whose late-game follies hung over the Nuggets as they navigated the stunning dismissals of coach Michael Malone and GM Calvin Booth on the eve of the playoffs, came up clutch against his former team Saturday.

“That’s who he is,” Nikola Jokic said after watching Westbrook hit an uncontested corner 3-pointer to give the Nuggets a two-point lead late in regulation and then knocking the inbounds pass away from — and off of — James Harden with 9.6 seconds left in overtime to help seal the Nuggets’ 112-110 win over the Clippers.

“I just know that (inbounds) play,” from being there the previous two seasons, Westbrook said.

Westbrook had plenty to do with L.A.’s whopping 20 turnovers, including an uncharacteristic seven from Kawhi Leonard.

“Russ is Russ,” interim coach David Adelman said after improving to 4-0. “Defensively, he’s absolutely incredible. He was playing free safety out there. I thought a lot of the reasons why the turnovers happened, even if it wasn’t him forcing it, (was) just the way he was roaming around and impacting the game.

“And then offensively ... he attacked,” Adelman said. “We maybe could have pulled it out and executed. But that’s what Russ does. I don’t think he’s going to change after 17 years. If he sees somebody in front of him 1-on-1, he’s going to attack. And then he made an enormous 3.”

Jokic scored 29 points and finished one rebound shy of a triple-double. Aaron Gordon added 25 points and Jamal Murray 21 as the Nuggets overcame a 15-point first-half deficit to power past the hottest team entering the playoffs.

Knicks use a 21-0 run in the 4th to beat the Pistons: Jalen Brunson scored 34 points, Cam Payne had 11 of his 14 in the fourth quarter and the Knicks stunned the Pistons with a 21-0 run in the final period to rally for a 123-112 victory Saturday night in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series.

Karl-Anthony Towns had 23 points and 11 rebounds in his first playoff game with the Knicks and OG Anunoby also scored 23 points for the No. 3-seeded Knicks. They will host Game 2 on Monday night.

The Pistons held up well for more than three quarters of their first playoff game since 2019 and had a 98-90 lead, a little more than nine minutes from ending their NBA-record, 14-game postseason losing streak.

By the time they scored again, the Knicks were ahead by 13 points.

Siakam, Haliburton help Pacers race past Bucks: Pascal Siakam kept it simple Saturday.

He got to his spots, hit his shots and made the plays. The three-time All-Star finished with 25 points and seven rebounds while Tyrese Haliburton added 10 points and 12 assists to lead the Pacers past the Bucks 117-98 for a 1-0 lead in the Eastern Conference best-of-seven first-round series.

“It’s just playing the game the way it’s supposed to be played — not a lot of thinking, just play the game,” Siakam said after going 10 of 15 from the field.