Nikola Jokic’s unwavering approach for Denver Nuggets makes NBA history
The only player in NBA history to average 25 points, 10 rebounds and five assists through the first 50 playoff games of his career makes it sound pretty simple.
Some players believe there needs to be more intensity or urgency in the postseason. Then there’s Nikola Jokic, who made basketball history Wednesday night, according to ESPN’s statistical department.
“I’m the same,” Jokic said. “I think, to be honest, it’s not a huge difference between basketball in the regular season and playoffs — maybe a little bit.”
Jokic entered Wednesday’s 122-113 win over the Timberwolves with averages of 26.2 points, 11.5 rebounds and 6.4 assists through his first 49 playoff games. He separated himself from every other NBA player to date with 27 points, nine rebounds and nine assists to help the Nuggets take a 2-0 series lead over Minnesota.
“That’s amazing,” Aaron Gordon said of the accomplishment.
“He’s one of the most even-keeled individuals that I’ve met. He’s just so consistent with his work. He’s another one of the guys that’s extremely disciplined. For him, the work is working. … Just rock solid, man, no different.”
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope doesn’t see a difference, either.
“Nikola’s the same dude all the time,” Caldwell-Pope told The Denver Gazette in the locker room after sealing the game with a steal in the final seconds. “He plays his basketball, his game. He’s never rushed, and he’s just trying to make everybody better around him.”
In Game 2, that meant making room for another big night for Jamal Murray, a player with a demonstrated ability to elevate his game in the postseason. Wednesday was Murray’s fifth postseason game with 40 or more points, while he has just four such games in the regular season despite playing in 410 regular-season games to 35 playoff performances.
“It’s just normal,” Jokic answered when asked if he changes his approach when Murray’s having a big game. “I don’t even think about it, to be honest.”
Jokic scored 21 of his 27 points in the first three quarters, making his only attempt from the field and three of his four fourth-quarter free throws. He saved three of his assists for the final, decisive quarter, as the Timberwolves started the fourth with a two-point lead. His final statistical contribution of the night was an alley-oop pass to Gordon, who finished the sequence and put the Nuggets up nine with 1 minute and 13 seconds left.
The stakes are unquestionable higher in the postseason, but that’s the only difference Jokic acknowledges.
“There is something to win or something to lose, you know, but I think the basketball is (the same),” Jokic said. “We are running the same plays. I didn’t do anything different.”
That approach has helped Jokic once again cement himself as one of one.