Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets had a tremendous 2018-19 season in which he was named to the NBA All-Star team and helped lead his team to the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference.
The joy of the regular season turned to the pressure of the playoffs, as the Nugs were immediately forced to face a cagey veteran squad, the seventh-seeded San Antonio Spurs, who are coached by NBA legend Gregg Popovich.
The Nuggets came into Thursday night’s Game 6 with a 3-2 edge in the series, but they were unable to close it out on the road in San Antonio, despite an absolutely spectacular performance from Jokic:
Nikola Jokic has a new career-high of 43 points, to go with 12 rebounds and nine assists. Nuggets will waste a truly special performance from him.
— Harrison Wind (@HarrisonWind) April 26, 2019
Though Harrison Wind of BSN Denver tweeted before the game was over, that was the final stat line for Jokic. He scored those 43 points efficiently (19-of-30 shooting) and also tacked on three steals for good measure. Beyond that, he played a team-high 38 minutes for Denver.
It was good that Jokic was playing well, because his teammates were not. No other Nuggets player scored more than 16 points, and only three of Jokic’s teammates scored in double digits (Jamal Murray, Paul Millsap and Gary Harris).
Beyond those 43 points being a career high, they are also a Nuggets franchise record for the playoffs as well, besting the previous franchise-high of 42 set first by Alex English in the early 1980s and matched by Carmelo Anthony in 2010.
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