Nuggets center Nikola Jokic put on a scoring clinic in the Nuggets’ 128-117 win over the Utah Jazz where he tied his career-high of 47 points. The Jazz went into Ball Arena with an 11-game winning streak and were the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference before the upset loss.
“I’m just happy that we won the game just because it is against, at this moment, the best team in the NBA,” Jokic said after the game. “They’re playing amazing.”
Everything was clicking for the Nuggets from the tip and they exploded for 43 points in the first quarter and never looked back. They shot an absurd 18-for-28 (64.3%) from behind the arc and were 47-for-87 (54%) from the field.
Jokic finished his day 17-for-26, including 4-for-4 from three-point range, and had 12 rebounds with five assists in 37 minutes of action. It was also his 20th double-double of the season in as many games.
Will Barton also tacked on 18 points while Jamal Murray had 16. The Jazz were led by Bojan Bogdanovic with 29 points on 8-for-13 shooting while All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell struggled and only had 13 points on 3-for-12 shooting.
This was the Jazz’s first loss since Jan. 6 to the Knicks and have been winning handily since. Of the Jazz’s 11 wins in a row, nine were by 10 points or more thanks to the star power of Mitchell and defensive juggernaut Rudy Gobert.
But an argument could be made that no player in the league is playing at a higher level than the Serbian center for the Nuggets. Jokic is averaging career highs in points (25.7), rebounds (11.7), assists (8.7) and steals (1.7) in what is looking like a career year.
