This has been a banner year for Denver Nuggets superstar center Nikola Jokic.
He nearly averaged a triple-double and came close to winning his third straight regular-season MVP award while leading his team to the best record in the Western Conference, and he is now three wins away from his first-ever NBA championship.
He is already by far the leader in playoff triple-doubles this year, as he has three times as many as everyone else combined, per StatMuse.
Most triple-doubles this playoffs:
9 — Nikola Jokic
3 — Everyone else combined pic.twitter.com/Bdn5GUPO4b— StatMuse (@statmuse) June 6, 2023
The Serbian native is actually averaging a triple-double in the postseason so far with 30.4 points, 12.9 rebounds, and 10.1 assists per game while shooting 54.5 percent overall and 46.9 percent from 3-point range.
The Nuggets opened the NBA Finals as sizable favorites against the Miami Heat, but now they find themselves with a 1-1 series tie heading to Miami for the next two games.
Jokic had a triple-double of 27 points, 10 rebounds, and 14 assists in Game 1, but the Heat were able to hold him to just four assists in Game 2 on Sunday.
The gameplan against Jokic seems to be to limit his assists and make him into a volume scorer, and it worked, as he scored 41 points on Sunday, but it wasn’t enough, as Miami won by three points.
The center is just starting to get the recognition he deserves, and some are starting to talk about him as one of the better players in NBA history.
If he is to validate that opinion, he will have to lead the Nuggets to three more wins in this series before it ends.
NEXT:
Nikola Jokic Is Back Atop The NBA In Fun Category