The Denver Nuggets are humming, just as everyone expected, and Nikola Jokic is rolling. They have now won five consecutive games, with Jokic playing at an MVP level yet again. On Tuesday night, Jokic literally could barely miss. He finished with 35 points, 15 rebounds, and seven assists while making 16 of his 19 shots on the night in Denver's 122-108 victory over the Sacramento Kings.
Over the past five games, which have all been Nuggets wins, Jokic has been a dominant stat-sheet stuffer who's as automatic from the field as anyone in the NBA. He averaged 32 points, 12 rebounds, and 12 assists on 72 percent shooting during that span, which is simply unbelievable.
But of course, no one is as proficient in stuffing the stat sheet as Wilt Chamberlain. As pointed out by OptaSTATS on X (formerly Twitter), “the only other player in NBA history to average a 30-point triple-double on 70 percent shooting over a 5-game span” was Chamberlain, who accomplished the feat back in March 1968.
The Kings were brazen in their strategy to let Jokic defeat them. And Jokic did exactly that. There are two dominant trains of thought when dealing with the Nuggets; slow down Jokic and make the supporting cast beat you, or do the opposite thing and focus on stopping the role players from popping off, channeling all the energy towards stopping the three-time MVP.
But Jokic made the Kings' centers look like children. Domantas Sabonis fouled out, and Drew Eubanks was even goaded into a late offensive foul call that you simply cannot fall for when guarding the Nuggets star.
Jokic continues to be a historic stat-sheet stuffer, and like Chamberlain, he'll be remembered long after his NBA career is over.
Nuggets' 8-2 record suggests dominant season in the making
The Nuggets have fallen into some banana peels this season; they lost to the Golden State Warriors in overtime, and they also lost to the Portland Trail Blazers on a late-game flub in NBA Cup action.
But this Nuggets team has shrugged off those setbacks and are now fully rolling. And the scary part about this is that they could very well get better, especially when someone like Cam Johnson hasn't been very good yet this season.
