Nikola Jokić became the third player in NBA history to average a triple-double for the season on Friday night, as the Denver Nuggets rallied late to claim a 117-109 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies.
The three-time NBA MVP put up 26 points, 16 rebounds and 12 assists, the fourth of which was his 700th of the season, guaranteeing that he will average double figures for assists for the first time in his career.
Jokić’s teammate, Russell Westbrook, is one of the other two players to have achieved the extraordinary feat, having done so four times – in 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19 with the Oklahoma City Thunder, and in 2020-21 with the Washington Wizards.
Oscar Robertson, who averaged 30.8 points, 12.5 rebounds and 11.4 assists in 1961-62 with the Cincinnati Royals, is the other.
Despite joining such illustrious company, Jokić appeared relatively indifferent to the achievement.
“It’s nice. I didn’t do that before,” he said afterwards. “I don’t know what to say. It’s good.”
The Serbian’s triple-double on Friday night was his 34th of the season. Westbrook and Robertson are the only players ever to have recorded more, the former on two occasions.
Remarkably, Jokić has put up 23 more triple-doubles than Giannis Antetokounmpo, who has the second-most in the league this season with 11.
Despite also averaging a career-best in scoring, three-pointers made and three-point percentage, Jokić looks likely to miss out on MVP honors, with the Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander the strong favorite.
“If he doesn’t win the MVP, it’s the greatest season of all time not to win the MVP,” Nuggets interim head coach David Adelman said of Jokić.
Down by five in the fourth quarter against the Grizzlies on Friday, Denver went on an impressive 14-1 run in the final six minutes to give Adelman his second win in as many games at the helm.
Huge scorelines across NBA set new record
Elsewhere in the NBA, five games were decided by 30 or more points on Friday, the first time in league history that so many matchups have been settled by such a margin on one day, according to AP.
The Boston Celtics were one of the teams to stroll to victory, beating the Charlotte Hornets 130-94 thanks to 22 points from Payton Pritchard and 20 from Sam Hauser. The victory meant that the Celtics have 60 wins in a season for the 15th time in franchise history, an NBA record.
