No one could have expected the San Antonio Spurs, a team that lost 16 straight games at one point during the 2022-23 season, to make much noise against Nikola Jokic and the team with the best record in the Western Conference, the Denver Nuggets, let alone claim a victory. After all, with just 17 games left in the season, many expect the Spurs to focus on getting the best possible lottery odds in the Victor Wembanyama sweepstakes. To make matters worse, the Spurs were coming off back-to-back losses to the Houston Rockets, the worst team in the NBA.

But on Friday night, the Spurs proved that there are no givens in the NBA. Following strong performances from Keldon Johnson, Doug McDermott, and Jeremy Sochan, the Spurs triumphed over the Nuggets, 128-120. And in the process of doing so, they managed to snap an impressive feat from, perhaps, the frontrunner to win the MVP award this season in Jokic.

The Spurs' win ended the Nuggets' 29-game winning streak in games where Nikola Jokic tallies a triple-double, according to ESPN Stats & Info. In 38 minutes of action, Jokic dropped an eye-popping stat line of 38 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists, but it wasn't enough against a motivated and rested Spurs team.

It has been over a year since Jokic lost a game in which he filled in the stat sheet to this degree. The Nuggets' last defeat in a Jokic triple-double performance came on February 11, 2022, when the Boston Celtics overcame the Nuggets, 108-102 after holding Jokic to an uncharacteristically inefficient night (9-20 from the field, 3-10 from deep).

For the Spurs, this win is a testament to what they can achieve in the future. While this season has gotten away from them a long time ago, adding a blue-chip prospect, like they would in the upcoming 2023 NBA Draft, should excite Spurs fans.

This win also proves that head coach Gregg Popovich is still able to prepare his team to play at a high enough level to shock any team at any given night. After all, the Spurs overcame a +13 point spread entering the night. And with youngsters such as Keldon Johnson and Devin Vassell in town, the Spurs' opponents could be in for a shock as well to end the season.