“I Got Him’’ is the most prophetic vow in Denver sports since “It’s All Over, Fat Man.’’

Tom Jackson and Aaron Gordon forever are linked in folklore.

On Oct. 16, 1977, in Oakland, Calif., the wannabe Broncos played the defending world champion Raiders, who had won 20 of their past 21 games over two seasons. The Orange Crush intercepted seven Kenny Stabler passes in the 30-7 blowout. Midway in the fourth quarter Jackson, the Broncos’ vociferous linebacker, swerved past the Raiders’ sideline and screamed at coach John Madden: “It’s all over, fat man.’’

Jackson’s rallying cry would be the foretelling of another Broncos’ victory over the Raiders in the AFC Championship and the team’s Super Bowl birth and berth.

Almost 44 years later, on May 25, 2021, Gordon has provided all of us in the Rocky Mountains with another startling sentence for success.

“I got him.’’

You gotta love T.J. and Flash Gordon.

If the Nuggets survive the Trail Blazers and two more Western Conference teams in the postseason to advance to The Finals in the NBA for the first time, the two pronouns and one verb asserted by Gordon at halftime Monday night must be the team’s mantra.

Gordon, acquired in a terrific trade March 25, already has earned his way into Nuggets’ history. He indeed shut down the Zeus-like lightning bolts of Damian Lillard on Monday night in the second half and may have saved the series.

The Nuggets and the Trail Blazers, thistight , play Game 3 Thursday night in Portland, Ore.

This is not the Raiders-Broncos, but the Blazers and the Nuggets did meet for the first time in the playoffs that same year the Broncos thrashed the Raiders. Portland outlasted the Nuggets in six games and eventually won the league title.

In their fourth playoff matchup, Lillard dominated the Nuggets for the first six quarters as Nikola Jokic subjugated the Trail Blazers.

Then, Gordon suddenly joined the fray.

There’s an odd contextual connection for Lillard and Gordon. The 30-year-old Lillard grew up in Oakland, and Gordon, 25, is from nearby San Jose. When Aaron was a youngster he would follow older brother Drew, a former UCLA player who has been in the Euro Leagues for years, to big-time AAU summer games in the Bay Area.

Gordon became enthralled with watching Damian’s spectacular game and would try to emulate him.

Eventually, Lillard was drafted sixth overall by the Trail Blazers in 2012, and two years later Gordon was picked fourth in the first round by the Magic. Both became NBA luminaries. When Orlando decided months ago to trade the expensive Gordon, one of the primary suitors was Portland. However, the Nuggets made a more persuasive offer — and got him.

Lillard was blistering in the first half of Game 2 and treated Denver’s defending guards as if they were a Borax mule team. Damian matched the NBA record with eight treys, including a cool-hand Luke from the Nuggets’ midcourt logo, and scored 32 by the interlude. At that rate he might have ended up with 75 points.

At halftime coach Michael Malone was searching for solutions.

In the locker room, “I told the coaching staff ‘I got him,’’’ said Gordon, who at 6-foot-9 is a forward who normally defends forwards. “That’s my competitive nature. It doesn’t matter it it’s a point guard, or a center.’’

So, Gordon began the second half unyielding on Lillard, squeezed his freedom at the arc, followed him everywhere and got in his trunk and his mind — and got him. Lillard was able to escape for only five quality attempts.

The stifled Trail Blazers’ own MVP candidate managed a solo 3-pointer in the second half (finishing 9 of 16) as the Nuggets cruised to victory.

Jokic will be the league MVP, but Gordon is the Nuggets’ MVD (Most Valuable Defender).

Presumably, Gordon will be available to shift more often onto Lillard throughout the rest of the series, and Lillard is aware he will have to make adjustments now.

“I expect it to continue,’’ Lillard said. “Usually, bigger guys can use their length and athleticism on the ball, but when you start to move around on flares and pin-downs and things like that, typically, you can get a little bit of space.’’

The Lillard-Gordon love-hate conflict could become as complicated as the ancient Chinese game of Go.

Who gets whom?