A knee injury may have slowed down Nikola Jokic this season, but he is back now and continuing his assault on the NBA’s history books.
The Serbian big man led the Denver Nuggets to a 136-120 rout of the Chicago Bulls on Sunday at the United Center after notching 22 points, 14 rebounds, and 17 assists for his 19th triple-double of the season. The one-time champ could have had more, of course, as he has played in only 37 of Denver’s 54 games so far due to the aforementioned injury.
Jokic’s 19th triple-double this season is also the 182nd of his illustrious career, moving him past the legendary Oscar Robertson, who recorded 181 triple-doubles over 14 seasons. The three-time NBA MVP now trails only former teammate Russell Westbrook, who currently holds the all-time record with 207 triple-doubles.
Incidentally, Jokic, Westbrook, and Robertson are the only three players in NBA history to average double figures in at least three statistical categories. This season, Jokic is on pace to average a triple-double for an entire season for the third time in his career, as he is putting up 28.9 points, 12.2 rebounds, and 10.7 assists per game. Westbrook did this four times, while the Big O did it just once.
Jokic Moves Up the Steals List
Jokic did not just move up the all-time triple-doubles list. With one steal against the Bulls, he also moved to 12th all time in career steals among centers and became just the 12th slotman to record at least 1,000 takeaways.
All time, the Serbian sensation would rank top five among all centers in history with his 1.3 steals per game over 782 games thus far. That would put him in a tie with Alvan Adams, Ben Wallace, Sam Lacey, and DeMarcus Cousins, among others.
If he keeps it up, Jokic will break into the top 10 in steals among centers by the midway mark of next season, as Jack Sikma (1,001 steals), Patrick Ewing (1,047), and Moses Malone (1,089) are all within reach.
Jokic and the Nuggets will return to action on Tuesday against the retooled Cleveland Cavaliers at home.
