Nikola Jokic produces mind-blowing stat line not even Wilt Chamberlain managed

Late into the wee hours of Friday night, Nikola Jokic made the NBA world stop and take note of his all-time, historic performance. It started off as a typical Jokic night; he was playing well, but it didn’t really feel like anything out of the ordinary.

Just minutes into the second half, Jokic officially recorded a triple-double as he had 13 points, 10 rebounds, and 11 assists after two and a half minutes of the third quarter had been played. That in itself would obviously be impressive for most players, but it’s just another night at the office for Jokic who has recorded triple-doubles much more quickly than that.

As the game went on and the Suns started making things tight late, more creation fell onto Jokic’s plate and he was ending almost every possession with a basket or assist to keep the Nuggets afloat. Late in the fourth quarter when Jokic was up over 25/15/15 it started to feel like this may be a pretty special night, even by his standards.

But then Kevin Durant hit a corner three at the final buzzer to send the game to overtime and things went to another level. Jokic completely dominated the five-minute OT period, adding 5 points, 5 assists, and 3 rebounds, bringing his final line for the night to 31 points, 21 rebounds, and 22 assists in a 149-141 home win over Phoenix.

Jokic records first 30/20/20 in history of NBA

Words can’t even do justice to how impressive Jokic’s final line was on the night. No player in NBA history has ever put up 30+ points, 20+ rebounds, and 20+ assists in one game before. The 22 assists also eclipsed Wilt Chamberlain’s former mark for the most assists by a center in a single game.

The 22 assists were also good for the most assists ever recorded in a 30+ point triple-double. Perhaps the most impressive stat of the night; if you split the game in half by total time, Jokic put up a 13/10/11 triple-double in the first 26:30 of game action, then put up another 18/11/11 triple-double over the final 26:30. This was, of course, the first time in NBA history a player has put up a triple-double in each half of a game.

Historically speaking, Jokic tied LeBron James for the most 30-point triple-doubles and tied Oscar Robertson for the most games with 15/15/15. This was also his second 30/20/15 game in the last 50 days; prior to that, there were no such instances in the last 15,000 days.

I could go on and on listing ridiculous stats and records, but to make a long story short, this was arguably the best offensive performance the NBA has ever seen. The Nuggets needed every bit of it to pull out a big win, and now we are set for an epic showdown between Jokic and the Nuggets and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder for Western Conference and MVP supremacy.