The NBA MVP race currently sees two heavy favorites. One is the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the runner-up for the award last season. The other is the three-time MVP of the Denver Nuggets, Nikola Jokic. The latter has been racking up triple-doubles left and right of late and did so again on Thursday. More than halfway through Denver’s regular season, Nikola Jokic is now averaging a triple-double on the year.
Nikola Jokic Is Now Averaging A Triple-Double On The Season
Nikola Jokic Is Averaging A Triple-Double After Historic Performance On Thursday
On Thursday, the Nuggets played at home against one of the league’s hottest teams in the Sacramento Kings. Denver won by a 132-123 margin, a game that seemed closer than it was due to Sacramento outscoring the Nuggets by 16 in the fourth quarter. The victory improved Denver’s record to 28-16, fourth-best in the Western Conference.
It was a magnificent performance by the 29-year-old Jokic. He finished the game with 35 points, 22 rebounds, and 17 assists. The 6-foot-11 center shot 12-19 from the field, 2-3 from beyond the arc, and 9-10 from the free-throw line. In the outing, Jokic became just the second player to have a 30/20/15 game along with the legendary Wilt Chamberlain.
It was the fifth-straight outing of a triple-double for Jokic, and in each of them, he secured it prior to the fourth quarter. He didn’t even play in the final stanza in the first four, and it was heading that way again on Thursday, until Sacramento quickly scrapped their way back into the game. Jokic now has 20 triple-doubles in his 38 outings in 2024-25, and the 150th of his career.
The game on Thursday which saw Jokic put up insane numbers also allowed him to now be averaging a triple-double on the season. Entering Thursday’s contest, he was five assists shy of averaging double figures in points, rebounds, and assists. The 17-assist game now has put Jokic into a double-digit asssist average. He now has seasonal averages of 30.2 points, 13.4 rebounds, and 10.1 assists.
Only Two Players Have Ever Done So In A Season
In the history of the NBA, only two players have averaged a triple-double in the season. The first to do so was Basketball Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson. In the 1961-62 season, just his second in the league, Robertson posted averages of 30.8 points, 12.5 rebounds, and 11.4 assists. His 181 career triple-doubles are the second-most in league history.
Nobody else was able to average a triple-double in a season for 5.5 decades until Jokic’s current teammate, Russell Westbrook, did so. In 2016-17 while playing for the Oklahoma City Thunder, Westbrook went on to average 31.6 points, 10.7 rebounds, and 10.4 assists en route to being named the league’s MVP that season. Westbrook would also average a triple-double in the ensuing two seasons for Oklahoma City while also doing so in 2020-21 with the Washington Wizards. His 202 career triple-doubles are the most in NBA history.
Those are the only two players that have more career triple-doubles than Jokic. Not bad for a player who isn’t even 30 years old, as he will turn that age on February 19.
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