Nikola Jokic makes Olympics history in dominant performance for Team Serbia

Nikola Jokic’s Olympic career got off to a strong start individually, but a disappointing one in terms of results. Despite his best effort, Serbia lost by 26 points to the United States, which is surely all that Jokic cared about.

But on Wednesday, Jokic was part of his first Olympic victory as Serbia beat Puerto Rico 107-66. It was an all-around drubbing from the Serbians, but as usual, Jokic shined above everyone else. He completely controlled the game on both ends thanks to his rebounding and passing.

Jokic finishes one assist shy of a triple double

He finished with 14 points, 15 rebounds, 9 assists, 2 steals, and a block; and perhaps most remarkably, he did it in just 23 minutes while taking just 7 shots. That’s about as thoroughly as an individual can dominate a game in such a short amount of time.

The Joker sat out the entire 4th quarter as his team was in cruise control, but even in just three quarters he managed to make Olympic history. He became the first player in the history of the Olympics to finish a game with 10+ points, 15+ rebounds, and 5+ assists. It’s remarkable what kind of lengths he could have reached if he played the whole game.

With one more assist, Jokic would have notched a triple-double which would have been just the fourth instance in Olympics history. But Jokic and his teammates are concerned with much larger goals than just individual stats and achievements (as seems to always be the case with Jokic and his teams).

Serbia still hoping to medal at Olympics

This was a huge win for Serbia, vaulting them into second place in the group behind just the USA. With a win against South Sudan on Saturday, Serbia will move on to the quarterfinals, and even with a close loss they would likely move on thanks to tiebreakers.

The Serbians will still be massive underdogs if they end up facing the US again in the semifinals or finals, but they may be favored against every other team in the world. They are here to win a medal and that is thanks in large part to the NBA MVP, Nikola Jokic, and his brilliance as he continues to establish himself on every stage as the best basketball player alive.