In what looked like a possible preview of this year's NBA finals, the Denver Nuggets defended their homecourt against the Boston Celtics on Thursday night. Led by Nikola Jokic's triple-double of 32 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists, the defending champions carved out a 115-109 win against the Eastern Conference's leading team.
Jokic recorded his 125th regular-season triple-double against Boston, putting him at 13 triple-doubles behind NBA icon Magic Johnson, per DNVR Sports' Harrison Wind. Johnson is third on the all-time leaderboard, and the Serbian big man is starting to close in.
While 13 triple-doubles may sound like a handful, Nikola Jokic is no ordinary player. At the rate at which the Joker collects triple-doubles, it won't be surprising to see him catch up to the Laker legend in the near future.
This season, Jokic is averaging 26 points, 12.3 rebounds and 9.2 assists per game. The center tops the latest Kia MVP ladder rankings and has led the Nuggets to a 43-20 record — third in the Western Conference at the moment.
The Nuggets' Thursday win marks a season sweep against the Celtics and was a reminder of why Denver is a championship-caliber squad.
Despite shooting only 4-0f-21 (19%) from three-point range, the Nuggets were almost perfect from the charity stripe, sinking 21-of-22 attempts (95.5%). Boston missed a total of nine free throws, and Denver managing 10 steals as a team didn't help the Celtics' cause either.
Alongside Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray added 19 points, eight assists and six rebounds while Aaron Gordon added 16 points of his own, one of which came in the form of a thunderous putback slam.
The Nuggets look to build momentum on Thursday's win as they take on the Utah Jazz on Saturday.
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