The Jokic avalanche rolls on.
Three-time MVP Nikola Jokic took an inbounds pass with 1.7 seconds remaining in the third quarter, turned and launched with a 66-foot prayer that was answered getting all net at the other end. He nonchalantly strolled over to his bench as his teammates surrounded him and the capacity crowd at Ball Arena rose to their feet and went crazy.
“I thought it had a chance, and then boom,” Russell Westbrook said. “The best part of it was no reaction from him. Which I love.”
It seemed to be a page in the book in what looked like a blowout win for the Denver Nuggets on Thursday night. At that junction, the Nuggets had a commanding lead over Sacramento 110-85, but they had to withstand a late and furious rally to win by nine, 132-123, against the Kings, their fourth straight victory.
Jokic had an incredible night finishing with 35 points, 22 rebounds and a season-high 17 assists, and the shot from three-quarters court stood out among his 12 field goals.
“Not surprising,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “He’s a guy that has this uncanny ability.”
Embed from Getty ImagesJokic took a low-percentage shot but saw his 3-point average skyrocket. He nailed 2 of 3 from behind the arc and is now shooting blistering 47.9% from downtown.
“When you play you want to make every shot,” he said. “I took it to make it, and I did make it. It’s a lucky shot, not really a high-percentage shot, but I took it to make it. It’s three points. It’s going to help us.”
Jokic’s shot was the vocal point of his fifth straight triple-double, astonishingly all before the end of the third quarter, and his 20th of the season, the most in the NBA this year.
He also has a unique ability to shatter the mold and put up historic numbers. He is now averaging a triple-double for the season, 30.2 points, 13.4 rebounds and 10 assists, and just two weeks ago he and Westbrook became the first pair of teammates to both record triple-doubles in the same game multiple times.
Thursday night he hit another milestone.
According to the NBA, Jokic joins Wilt ‘The Stilt’ Chamberlain as the only players in NBA history to record a game with at least 35 points, 20 rebounds and 15 assists. Chamberlain accomplished his feat on February 14, 1968, against the Seattle SuperSonics when he also shot 15-for-18 from the field and 5-for-12 on free throws. It was a happy Valentines Day.
“I think this is the best basketball I’ve ever played,” Jokic said. “I’m feeling good out there, I’m in shape, the ball is going in. I think I’m playing really good.”
Jokic earned another All-Star spot for the event next month in San Francisco. It is the seventh consecutive time he has been named to the All-Star game, and it is the fifth in a row as a starter.
“Just to be on the floor with the best players in the league is an honor,” he said.
