Nikola Jokic has made history with his 50-piece against the Phoenix Suns in Game 4, with the Denver Nuggets star becoming just the second center in NBA history to score 50 points in a playoffs game. The other was a guy you might have heard of called Wilt Chamberlain, who seemed to have a pretty strong penchant for scoring a whole lot of points himself.
Jokic was absolutely unstoppable on Sunday night, going 20-32 from the floor en route to 53 points in 39 minutes of playing time. He also dished out a casual 11 assists to go with it.
The game was an incredible showcase of the offensive talent present in the league, with Devin Booker also going off for 36 points on a remarkable 14-18 from the floor, while Kevin Durant had 36 points on 11-19 shooting.
Unfortunately for Jokic, the weight of those two opposition performances proved too much for he and the Nuggets, and despite his historic night the Nuggets went down 129-124. As the series heads back to Denver locked at 2-2, he will have a huge role to play in whether the number one seed can advance through to the NBA Finals.
Nikola Jokic has been immense this series, putting up eye-popping numbers from the get-go. In four games to date, he is averaging 36.5 points, 14 rebounds (despite having just four on Sunday night), and 9.5 assists. With Durant and in particular Booker both playing just as well, however, he’ll likely need to keep up that sort of production if the Nuggets are to make their way out of this series.