On Friday night, Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets faced off with the Phoenix Suns, in what turned into one of the most memorable nights of Jokic’s all-time great career and one of the best stat-lines in NBA history. Funny enough, “Big Honey” was as nonchalant as ever about his performance and even seemed a bit disappointed in the performance, when talking to Scott Van Pelt:
"It's gonna be nice to go finish my career, on my couch, and think I had a really good game."
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) March 8, 2025
Nikola Jokic is unfazed after having the first 30-20-20 game in NBA history 😭 pic.twitter.com/nxT5a0sgbL
Following Jokic’s utterly insane 31-point, 22-assist, and 22-rebound outing, Van Pelt shared with Jokic how this was the first 30/20/20 game in NBA history. Joker seemingly brushes this off and discusses how they “didn’t play well” and how they “just found a way to win the game”.
Van Pelt continues with how in awe he and ESPN announcer, Tim Legler, were of his game tonight and the Serbian big man then decided to focus on how he’s sure after he retires he will look back on what an incredible game he had, but is more focused on the upcoming back-to-back against the Oklahoma City Thunder and getting rest and recovery at the moment.
How did this Jokic masterpiece unfold against the Suns?
The Nuggets came out on Friday night, shooting the lights out as a team from beyond the arc, something that has been rare for Denver this season. Early on it looked like Jokic would be well on his way to yet another early triple-double, but the Nuggets were on the verge of blowing the Suns out of the water.
Phoenix then came storming back in the 4th quarter and Jokic secured another 15/15/15 game, which in of itself is a remarkable performance… but he was not done yet. Following a Christian Braun three-pointer with 1.4 seconds left, it felt like the game may end in regulation with Jokic falling short of a 20/20/20 game, but Kevin Durant hit a corner-three at the buzzer to go to OT.
In overtime it was all the Joker, as he recorded 5 points, 5 assists, and 3 rebounds in overtime to land on his final count and lead the Nuggets to a shaky, but memorable 149-141 win. If this game does not prove that Jokic deserves to win MVP this season, nothing will.
Luckily for Joker and Co. they will get a chance to face off with the other top MVP candidate on Sunday as they head to Oklahoma City to battle it out with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.