Denver Nuggets star center Nikola Jokic has been on a tremendous pace during the 2024-25 NBA season. He finished just one assist shy of his 26th triple-double of the season in the Nuggets’ 129-115 win over the Charlotte Hornets on Thursday night. Jamal Murray led them in scoring with 34 points, one rebound, and four assists. Read on for further details.
Nikola Jokic’s Pace
Jokic wasn’t the leading scorer in the Denver Nuggets’ 129-115 win over the Charlotte Hornets at Ball Arena on Thursday night. However, he entered the NBA news cycle. OptaSTATS’ post on X reads, “Over his last nine games, the @nuggets‘ Nikola Jokić is averaging a 30-point triple-double, is shooting 60.0% from the field, and is undefeated. No one else in NBA history has done all that over a span longer than four games.”
OptaSTATS’ post attracted ample attention from the NBA world on X. One user responded with “MVP,” and another user responded with, “Doesn’t make him “MVP,” so it’s safe to say that not everyone agrees with Jokic winning the MVP award. He won three NBA MVPs in three of the past four seasons. He and Oklahoma City Thunder star point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander are battling for the 2025 NBA MVP award.
Nikola Jokic’s Stats
Jokic finished Thursday night’s game vs. the Charlotte Hornets with 29 points, 17 rebounds, and nine assists. He attempted a career-high 14 three-pointers and made six. Jokic’s season averages are 29.7 points, 12.7 rebounds, and 10.2 assists per game. He is shooting 57.6% from the field and 44.9% from downtown this season.
Jokic’s career averages are 21.6 points, 10.9 rebounds, and 7.1 assists per game, shooting 55.9% from the field and 36.0% from downtown since 2015. The Nuggets selected Jokic with the 41st overall pick in the second round of the 2014 NBA Draft, but he opted to finish the 2014-15 ABA season as an ABA League MVP representing the Serbian League before joining the Nuggets in Denver, Colorado.
Denver Nuggets’ Outlook
The Denver Nuggets will host the Los Angeles Lakers in a home game at Ball Arena on Saturday night at 6:30 p.m. Mountain. After that, Denver will embark on a four-game road trip against the Indiana Pacers, Milwaukee Bucks, Detroit Pistons, and Boston Celtics. The Nuggets have been enjoying tremendous production from Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, and Russell Westbrook and enter Saturday night’s game with a 37-19 record.
The Nuggets seek their 10th straight win over the Lakers, which is possible. The Lakers defeated the Portland Trail Blazers 110-102 at the Moda Center on Thursday night. However, Los Angeles hasn’t experienced much success after acquiring Luka Doncic. Doncic, 25, has been slammed for scoring just 14 points on 5-18 shooting with six turnovers in the Lakers’ 100-97 loss to the Charlotte Hornets at Crypto.com Arena the night before.
