Nikola Jokic’s 139th career triple double was not enough as the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Denver Nuggets 126-114 on Thursday night.
The Serbian star moved ahead of Magic Johnson into No3 in the all-time rankings for the feat with 27 points, 20 rebounds and 11 assists but his Nuggets side were undone by a three-point barrage by the Cavs.
Jokic said of his historic feat: “It’s something that you’re probably going to look at after you finish your career.
“Right now, you don’t even think about it. But it’s a great thing. It’s really nice.”
Cleveland’s quartet of Donovan Mitchell (28 points), Darius Garland (24), Caris LeVert (21) and Evan Mobley (20) proved too strong as they improved their record to 20-3.
“It took everybody,” Mitchell said. “Jokic is MVP for a reason, he makes that team phenomenal.”
Jokic was named the NBA’s Most Vavluable Player for the third time in 2023.
It was the third win in a row for the Cavs, with the Nuggets alternating between wins and loss in their last nine games.
Nuggets, the NBA champions, are eighth in the Western Conference, having lost 11 of their 20 matches.
“I love Nikola, I really do, and I’m fortunate to coach him and he’s one of the best to ever do it,” head coach Michael Malone said.
“But I’m just so much more concerned about my team right now.”
Meanwhile, Luka Doncic moved up to joint-seventh on the all-time triple-double list, scoring 21 points with 10 rebounds and 10 assists as the Dallas Mavericks beat the Washington Wizards 137-101.
Doncic’s 78th triple-double’s puts the Slovenian level with wilt Chamberlain and James Harden.
