Nikola Jokić's historic tear continues with 35 points, 22 rebounds, 17 assists and an absurd 1-handed highlight.
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Nikola Jokić’ took an inbounds pass with 1.7 seconds left in the third quarter, turned and let fly with a 66-foot heave that got all net at the other end. He casually walked over to his bench as his teammates mobbed him and the sold-out arena erupted.
“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.”
"I knew it was going in."
Nikola Jokić on his 66-foot QB make ? https://t.co/kg4Vjbqvkb pic.twitter.com/lXWKORo7l9
— NBA (@NBA) January 24, 2025
It appeared to be a footnote in what looked like a blowout win for the Denver Nuggets on Thursday night. At that point, Denver led Sacramento 110-85, but it had to hold off a late rally to win 132-123 over the Kings, its fourth straight victory.
Jokić finished 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.”
Jokić’ took the low-percentage shot but saw his 3-point average rise. He made 2 of 3 from behind the arc and is now shooting 47.9% from deep.
“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.”
Jokić’s shot highlighted his fifth straight triple-double, all before the end of the third quarter, and his 20th of the season, the most in the NBA this season.
He also has an uncanny ability to put up historic numbers. He is now averaging a triple-double for the season — 30.2 points, 13.4 rebounds and 10 assists — and two weeks ago he and Westbrook became the first teammates to both record triple-doubles in same game multiple times.
Thursday night he hit another milestone.
According to the NBA, Jokić’ joins Wilt 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 Feb. 14, 1968, against the Seattle SuperSonics when he also shot 15-for-18 overall and 5-for-12 on free throws.
A stat line of his very own ?
The only player in NBA history to record 30+ points, 22+ rebounds, and 17+ assists in a game. pic.twitter.com/hjg1pX3HMX
— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) January 24, 2025
“I think this the best basketball I’ve ever played,” Jokić’ said. “I’m feeling good out there, I’m in shape, the ball is going in. I think I’m playing really good.”
Jokić’ earned another All-Star spot for the event next month in San Francisco. It is the seventh straight time he has been named to the All-Star game and it’s 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.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.