Friday night was a very special evening in the National Basketball Association. The reason is because we saw something we have never seen before. In a 149-141 Denver Nuggets overtime win over the Phoenix Suns, three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic of Sombor, Sebia had a game for the ages. He became the first player ever to have a 30-20-20 triple double.
Jokic had 31 points, 22 assists and 21 rebounds in 45 minutes of action. Just how significant and valuable was Jokic on the court for the Nuggets? Well, he played 84.9% of the entire game. Jokic made 13 of 22 field goals, three of seven three point attempts, and two of three free throw attempts. Of Jokic’s 21 rebounds, 17 were defensive rebounds, and four were offensive rebounds. Jokic also had three steals and was a +8.
However, it is not a slam dunk at the moment that Jokic is the NBA most valuable player in 2024-25, even though he leads the NBA with 29 triple doubles and 580 defensive rebounds. That is because the Nuggets got clobbered on Sunday, by the Oklahoma City Thunder and their star player, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, who leads the NBA with 32.9 points per game. In beating the Nuggets 127-103, Gilgeous-Alexander might just have delivered a statement on his own. He scored 40 points in the 24-point OKC blowout.
Jokic is still in the NBA MVP conversation because he is averaging a triple-double for the season. This is simply unheard of for a NBA center, who generally does not pass the basketball much. Jokic is averaging 28.8 points per game, 12.9 rebounds per game, and a career-high 10.5 assists per game.
