Nikola Jokic of Sombor, Serbia broke his own record for most points in a NBA game by a Serbian-born player according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Jokic recorded 47 points in a 123-115 win over the Atlanta Hawks at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia on Monday.
Jokic held the previous regular season record of 41 points. He reached that mark on November 7, 2017 in a 112-104 Denver Nuggets win over the Brooklyn Nets. However, it should also be noted that Jokic had 43 points in game six of the 2019 Western Conference quarterfinal between the Nuggets and San Antonio Spurs on April 25, 2019. The Spurs won the game 120-103, but the Nuggets won the series four games to three.
In the Nuggets win over the Hawks on Monday, Jokic played 36 minutes and 50 seconds. He went 16 for 25 in field goal attempts, four for eight in three point attempts and 11 of 16 in free throw attempts. Jokic also had eight rebounds, five assists, two steals and one blocked shot. Will Barton of Baltimore, Maryland led the Nuggets with nine rebounds and Jamal Murray of Kitchener, Ontario, Canada led the Nuggets with eight assists.
Clearly one of the most intimidating centers in the NBA at the moment, Jokic is 7’0″, 285 pounds. He is averaging 18.9 points per game, 9.8 rebounds per game and 6.4 assists per game in 2019-20. Jokic’s offensive statistics are a little bit lower this season compared to last when he averaged career highs in points per game (20.1) and rebounds per game (10.8). It will also be interesting to see if Jokic will be an all-star for the second straight year.
The Nuggets are currently in second place in the Western Conference with a record of 25 wins and 11 losses. They are four games back of the first place Los Angeles Lakers.
