December 29, 2023, 12:21 a.m. ET
DENVER – Nikola Jokic was perfect from the field and from the free throw line, finishing the game with 26 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists as the Denver Nuggets posted their highest point total of the season with a 142-105 victory over the undermanned Memphis Grizzlies on Thursday night .
Jokic was 11 for 11 from the field, made his only 3-point attempt and went 3 for 3 from the line. The performance was followed by another near-perfect performance after he made all 18 free throws in Monday's 120-114 win over Golden State.
Editor favorites
1 relative
It was Jokic's third career triple-double with a 100 percent field goal percentage – tied with Wilt Chamberlain for the most such games ever, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. According to ESPN Stats & Information, he also tied Chamberlain's shot clock era record by recording a 25-point triple-double on 100% field goal shooting twice.
Overall, it was the 116th regular-season triple-double of Jokic's career, and that ranks fourth all-time in NBA history and 22 behind Magic Johnson for third. Russell Westbrook tops the list with 198, Oscar Robertson with 181.
“It’s a miss-and-make game,” Jokic said. “Of course, sometimes you miss, sometimes you hit. Today I took all of my shots. There won’t be many of these nights.”
Jokic went to the bench on Thursday after serving Christian Braun for a dunk with 1:31 left in the third quarter, completing his 11th triple-double of the season.
| Wilt Chamberlain | 3 |
| Nikola Jokic | 3 |
| Draymond Green | 2 |
| – ESPN stats and information | |
“I never saw a triple-double before I played with him, and now I see them all the time,” said second-year player Peyton Watson, who scored a season-high 20 points as a backup to Aaron Gordon
Gordon is out after suffering cuts to his face and right shooting hand when he was bitten by a family dog at Christmas.
Memphis played without Ja Morant, who was sidelined due to illness. Morant missed his first game since returning from a 25-game suspension earlier in the season. The Grizzlies had won all four games Morant had played in since his season debut on Dec. 19 in New Orleans.
“Obviously they're a whole different team with Ja Morant, so we took a break because he's out tonight,” Denver coach Michael Malone said. “This team played great basketball. I was proud of our boys. When we found out shortly before kickoff that Ja wasn’t playing, our boys took care of their business.”
Desmond Bane led Memphis with 23 points and Marcus Smart scored 17. Memphis is 6-20 when Morant is not in the lineup.
Jamal Murray scored 20 or more points for the fourth straight game and finished with 23 points and nine assists for Denver, which has won a season-best six straight. Murray had 10 points in a high-scoring third quarter as the Nuggets' lead reached 32 points before the Grizzlies cut it to 23.
“[Jokic] “It was 11-11 tonight,” Malone said, as quoted in the Denver Post. “He doesn’t care.” When Jamal makes it, he claps for Jamal. He's more happy about his teammates' success [than his own] and that is the true definition of selflessness. And he lives it every day.”
Denver outscored Memphis 41-35 in the quarter and even led by 38 points in the fourth quarter.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.