Nikola Jokic’s best game? Stats show how absurd performance was against Wolves

DENVER—Since the start of the 1984 season, only 21 players have had a better single-game performance than Nikola Jokic did on Tuesday night, according to a stat known as Game Score.

On a night Nikola Jokic played the most minutes of his NBA career outside a four overtime playoff game and scored a career high 61 points to become just the third player in league history to record a 60-point triple-double, he tallied the best performance of his pro days. Aiming to quantify how good a player’s performance is, with 40 or more being outstanding, Jokic set a new career high with a 52.7 Game Score, which is the 22nd best night by any player in the NBA regular or postseason in the last 40 years.

“I’ve been fortunate to coach some great players,” Micheal Malone said postgame. “Nikola’s on a whole ‘nother level, man. People say he’s not athletic. Not many guys can do what he does.”

Previously, Jokic’s best performance by Game Score was a 46-point triple-double against the Pelicans in 2022, where he notched a 48.7. He’s now had 23 games get over the 40-point threshold, which is the fourth-most in league history behind Michael Jordan’s 56 games of getting above that benchmark, LeBron James’ 33 and James Harden’s 31.

Jordan has the best night in NBA history according to the metric at 64.6, for his career high 69 point outing with 18 rebounds during the 1990 season against the Cavs. It’s just above Luka Doncic’s 64.0 for his 73-point near-triple-double last season. It’s Doncic (2022) and Harden (2018) who are the only other players to tally at least 60 points and still get a triple-double.

“I think it’s another thing for after—sitting on the couch, drinking beer,” Jokic reflected humbly on the game.

Another NBA star wasn’t quite as laid back about the jaw-dropping effort that came with his two favorite amigos in Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. out.

“That might have been the best game of my life that I’ve been a part of,” Wolves standout guard Anthony Edwards said. “Nikola Jokic, bruh. My God. He might be the best basketball player I’ve ever seen close-up, besides myself to myself. He’s incredible, bruh.”

Jokic buoyed the shorthanded Nuggets, playing 53 minutes of the game’s 58—only taking a brief rest at the start of the second quarter, then finishing the game off with 40-straight minutes of action. He got off to a torrid start, scoring 16 in the first, including nine of Denver’s 12 on a scoreless stretch for Minnesota. Jokic scored another 11 in the second quarter as the Nuggets’ offense couldn’t muster anything without him—blowing a 16-point lead, so Malone just kept him out there. Jokic tallied another 10 in the third, setting up 28 points of pure dominance in the fourth quarter and overtime, including a run where he had doubled the Wolves’ points in the period to put Denver up 11 in the fourth. Despite fouling out four-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert and not facing two key Wolves who were suspended, Jokic’s cooking never ignited enough from his teammates. That group was led by 30 points from Aaron Gordon. But multiple starters didn’t even register double digits despite the two extra periods, and the Nuggets only tallied 14 bench points.

“I’m just tired; it was an exhausting game,” Jokic said.

It’s the first time Jokic has scored at least 60, becoming the 39th player in league history to reach that mark. His 61 points are the most scored by anyone this season and the second most by anyone in the Nuggets record books, rewriting his own mark from earlier this season of 56 points, which now moves to third. The top is David Thompson’s legendary scoring-title-chasing 73-point game. And this category has been completely reset this year as Murray tallied 55 in a game as well—now ranking fourth.

Like the other three times the Nuggets have gotten 50 or more from their Joker, they lost to the Wolves on Tuesday 140-139 in double overtime. While Jokic’s 56-point game back in the fall was one of the team’s worst losses of this season, the most recent defeat might have been the most heartbreaking as Russell Westbrook’s late miscues spoiled the special night.

Jokic’s 61 points were the 19th most scored in the NBA since the start of the 1984 season and the 51st best performance in league history (the Wilt Chamberlain effect).

Jokic has now twice set his career scoring high this season, and he also created a new career high for assists less than a month ago with his iconic 22-helper performance as part of the league’s first 30-20-20 game. Jokic’s 127 makes from three are the most of his career, setting game highs for both makes and takes from deep this season, and he’s got game mosts for makes and takes from two-point range as well. Jokic actually set another new game high against Minny by shooting 24 free throws (another franchise record) and making 19. He joins Giannis Antetokounmpo as the lone players to attempt 24 or more foul shots over the last two seasons.

“I mean, he’s making a good run for MVP. You guys know who I got, but he’s making it tough, for sure,” said Wolves guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker, who hit the game-winning free throw and just happens to be the cousin for NBA MVP frontrunner Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. “Star player that he is, always making the right play, gotta respect it, gotta tip my hat to him.”

It was the Nuggets’ sixth-straight loss to their rival T-Wolves, and Jokic became just the third player to achieve at least a 50-point triple-double while his team lost—joining Chamberlain from 1963 and his now teammate Westbrook in a 2017 playoff loss.