On Monday night, the Denver Nuggets played the Milwaukee Bucks in a matchup of the NBA’s best teams. Nikola Jokic, the reigning Finals MVP, finished with 25 points, 16 rebounds, 12 assists, three steals, and two blocks to lead Denver to victory.
According to Basketball Reference’s StatHead, Jokic became only the fourth player in NBA history to post this line or better in a game, following Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Larry Bird, and Jimmy Butler. This was not Jokic’s only historic performance; his 85th career 20-point triple-double tied Magic Johnson for the fifth most in NBA history, according to StatHead.
Jokic is used to delivering historic performances on a nightly basis. In fact, his line for Monday night is not far off from his season averages of 26.3 PPG, 12.1 RPG, and 9.0 APG. Jokic did not shoot as well as he typically does from the field in this game, but Milwaukee’s interior defense is very strong, and Jokic did enough to get his own while also finding his teammates.
This was a solid win for the Nuggets, who are seeking to keep pace with the Los Angeles Clippers in the standings while also chasing down the Oklahoma City Thunder and Minnesota Timberwolves. Nights like this from Jokic help them do so.