The Denver Nuggets watched their lead over the Orlando Magic slip away in a horrendous fourth quarter collapse Saturday before eventually falling by one point in a 127-126 heartbreaker, despite another massive performance by star Nikola Jokic. 

After leading the whole game scoring 31 in each of the first three quarters, the Nuggets saw themselves outscored by 10 in a chaotic fourth quarter that was defined by controversial foul calls and Denver turnovers that gave Orlando the upper hand they needed to sneak away with the game. 

"They [Orlando] lived in our paint and they lived at the line. They were at the bonus three minutes into the fourth quarter, so any time you got aggressive and the whistle blew they were going to shoot free throws. It was the longest fourth quarter I've been a part of in a long time," Denver head coach David Adelman said (via Nuggets). 

The whistle blew often for both teams in the fourth as the physicality ramped up and both teams even successfully challenged and overturned calls at least once, with Adelman successfully challenging two calls in the fourth.

But, after burning through his maximum of two challenges, even though they were successful both times, Adelman found himself to want to challenge even more controversial calls that continued to send the Magic to the line. 

"It was tough not to have a challenge at the end to win both and the rule that says I lose a timeout and a challenge. It was a very frustrating fourth quarter," Adelman said. 

The frequency of the whistle began to get to the Nuggets in the end. As the frustration built, Adelman made it a point to reassure his players to continue on at their pace regardless of the decisions that were coming from referees. 

"You just have to keep playing. You also want to go to your players and give them information they can use that's consistent with what's gong on during the game," Adelman said. "You just have to keep playing through the contact; what was deemed a block and what wasn't, all those kinds of things. You just have to ignore it as best you can."

The Magic earned eight separate trips to the free throw line for one or two shot penalties and those extra points eventually added up in a big way as Desmond Bane scored both the tying and winning points on two free throws with just under seven seconds left in the game. 

"I think they shot 15 free throws in the fourth quarter, which allowed them to dictate pace, which means they're pressuring us up the floor... It's a very frustrating loss, a game I thought we should have won," Adelman said.