DENVER — With a taste of playoff-level basketball two weeks early, the Denver Nuggets were as determined to engineer a comeback as if their season was on the line.

Down 11 in the fourth quarter, down six with 90 seconds to go, Denver rallied for a 136-134 overtime win over the streaking San Antonio Spurs on Saturday at Ball Arena.

In a war of MVP wills, Nikola Jokic put the finishing touches on a 40-point, eight-rebound, 13-assist performance in the last minute of overtime, burying two shots over the mile-high reach of Victor Wembanyama. Both buckets were garnished with a rainbow arc. Both doubled Denver’s lead. The second sealed the Nuggets’ eighth consecutive win with 9.8 seconds left, and their fourth consecutive 50-win season.

Wembanyama finished with 34 points, 18 rebounds, seven assists and five blocks.

The game seemed out of reach for the Nuggets (50-28) until Cam Johnson converted a 4-point play with 1:24 remaining to get them within two. They still trailed by four in the last minute, but Jokic earned a pair by drawing a foul with 32 seconds left. Needing a stop, Aaron Gordon clamped De’Aaron Fox to force an air-ball at the shot clock buzzer.

Then Jokic found him for a game-tying dunk with six seconds in regulation out of a timeout. Wembanyama had strayed away from Gordon to double Jokic on the baseline, thinking he could recover. Jokic punished him with quick instincts. Gordon walled him up at the other end, contesting a missed game-winning attempt at the buzzer.

Denver led for only 71 seconds in regulation.

The Spurs came in on an 11-game win streak. Their most recent loss was March 12, when Denver erased a 20-point deficit on the second leg of a back-to-back. They were touting a 26-1 record with Wembanyama in the lineup since the start of February.

But this was the first time this season that Wembanyama was available for one of the most compelling head-to-head matchups in basketball. His dramatic wingspan has tested Jokic in recent years unlike any other center, forcing the three-time MVP to reimagine the parabola of his shot or stretch his release point farther from his body to create a cushion.

“They’re probably the two most unique players of the last decade of basketball,” Nuggets coach David Adelman said. “… The first couple of times, (it was fun) watching him measure how long (Wembanyama) was, blocking shots, and trying to find a way to shoot his jump hook over the top of his hand — which I think he had practice with (Rudy) Gobert over the years. But Wemby is a whole other thing. … Them measuring each other is very interesting, and for Nikola, a guy that loves to figure things out, this is the ultimate defensive puzzle.”

Jokic posted up Wembanyama out an inverted pick-and-roll early and used his left hand to score over the French giant. The Nuggets started the game with Jokic on Wembanyama and Aaron Gordon ready to switch on screen exchanges between Wemby and Stephon Castle.

Wembanyama picked up two quick fouls trying to contend with Jokic inside, forcing Spurs coach Mitch Johnson to tread carefully. Wembanyama went to the bench for a few minutes. Denver failed to capitalize, outscoring San Antonio by only one with Jokic on the court and Wembanyama absent from it. When he returned, the smaller Keldon Johnson guarded Jokic, enabling Wemby to roam away from Christian Braun and avoid foul trouble.

But that subplot turned controversial late in the first quarter. After a San Antonio rebound, Wembanyama accidentally smacked Jokic in the face. He went to the floor in a heap with a cut on the bridge of his nose as evidence, but no foul was called.

Denver’s bench erupted. Bruce Brown committed an intentional transition take foul to stop the play, resulting in an automatic free throw. Adelman and assistant coach JJ Barea launched profanities at the refs while Adelman ventured to the paint to help his star up. Their sideline was handed a technical foul, meaning a second Spurs free throw. At the other end, Gordon was pleading Jokic’s case and picked up his own tech — another free throw.

The Nuggets were on a 9-0 run before the sequence. The Spurs turned it into a five-point possession to end the quarter up 43-36. Wembanyama avoided his third foul.

As for him and Jokic, bygones were bygones. Wembanyama went over to apologize. The stars dapped up and carried on.

Denver was overmatched by Wembanyama, De’Aaron Fox and Dylan Harper during Jokic’s breather to start the second quarter, even with Gordon — the team’s preferred Wembanyama defender — playing backup center. After an 8-0 Spurs run, Adelman decided to take Jonas Valanciunas for a spin and move Gordon back to the four. That helped soften the blow. Valanciunas made plays on the offensive glass, providing solid minutes despite getting swatted to death by Wembanyama on an ill-advised post-up.

Still, the Nuggets dug a 13-point hole by the time Jokic returned. They would spend the rest of the afternoon trying to chip away at it. Theatrics between Jokic and Wembanyama defined the first half; both lobbied for calls and ultimately earned 11 free throws each by the intermission. Denver challenged a potential third foul on Jokic only to unwittingly get it successfully overturned — to a foul on Gordon. Wembanyama had tripped over his shoelace, the referees determined.

Officiating largely faded as a storyline throughout the second half, as Wembanyama shifted back to the Jokic matchup. What remained a constant was San Antonio’s willingness to help away from Braun and funnel the ball to him in the corners. It was an indicator that his down year from the 3-point line is likely to be tested in the playoffs. He struggled to punish the Spurs at first Saturday, eventually growing into the game with a 5 for 11 showing from deep for 21 points.

One of those 3s cut the deficit to 94-92 late in the third. Another sliced it back to single digits after San Antonio crushed a Valanciunas lineup early in the fourth.

The Nuggets kept finding timely plays to stay alive. When Wembanyama blocked a fading jumper by Jamal Murray, their window seemed to be closing. They trailed by seven with under six minutes to go. Murray was struggling. Then he answered with a 3-pointer. Braun willed Denver to a stop by diving to the floor. Cam Johnson went coast-to-coast for a tough layup.

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