The Denver Nuggets were expected to win on Friday night against the injured and tanking Brooklyn Nets in Ball Arena, especially after news broke that Nikola Jokic would be returning. This made it no surprise that the Nuggets secured the 124-105 victory, but Russell Westbrook and Nikola Jokic recording a double triple-double again was certainly not on the bingo card.
Westbrook and Jokic became the first teammates in the NBA to both record a triple-double in the same game earlier this season when Westbrook had a perfect triple-double against the Jazz and Jokic added his own 36-point, 22-rebound, and 11-assist triple-double against the lowly Utah team as well.
Even before the Brooklyn game Russ has been a heater, creating his own Babe Ruth moments, bringing energy, and stepping up while Jokic was out of the lineup with a sickness. With his Triple-Double Duo partner back in the lineup, Westbrook wasted no time having another legendary game, this time a 25/11/10 game on solid efficiency.
Jokic also did not miss a beat after a short time away from the team, recording his own 35/15/12 masterpiece. Big Honey shot a hyper-efficient 14/21 from the field and added 4 steals against the Nets as well. Westbrook and Jokic are the only teammates in the NBA this season to record a triple-double in the same game… and they have now done it twice:
Jokic & Westbrook are the only duo to record a triple-double in the same game this season.
— Real Sports (@realapp_) January 11, 2025
They’ve now done it twice. pic.twitter.com/TmamnLScPV
Westbrook and Jokic are creeping into uncatchable categories for triple-doubles
Westbrook’s triple-double against Brooklyn was the 202nd of his career and the new record for most triple-doubles in NBA history, breaking his own record of course. Jokic on the other hand cruised to his 145th career triple-double, which is good for 3rd all-time. Each Nugget has recorded 7 career triple-doubles against the Nets alone as well.
Additionally, and more impressively, Westbrook and Jokic become just the 2nd duo to record a triple-double in the same game on multiple occasions. The first duo came back in 2021 when the less disgruntled Jimmy Butler and less polished Bam Adebayo recorded their 2nd same-game triple-doubles as teammates (their first coming back in 2019).
In that Butler-Adebayo game in 2021 however, the Miami Heat duo combined for only 29 points, 23 assists, and 22 rebounds for a total count of 74. The Nuggets duo crushed that mark on Friday night with a combined 60 points, 25 assists, and 23 rebounds for a total count of 108.
With Jamal Murray exiting the Brooklyn game early due to knee soreness, there may be no stopping the Jokic-Westbrook combo-punch from securing another double triple-double very soon.