LOS ANGELES – Denver Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic will become the third National Basketball Association (NBA) player, and the first centre, to average a triple-double for the entire season.
With his fourth assist in an eventual 117-109 home win over the Memphis Grizzlies on April 11, he assured himself of the feat.
The Serb finished with 26 points, 16 boards and 13 assists against Memphis for his 34th triple-double of the season – the fourth-most in a season in league history.
Heading into the regular-season finale on April 13 (April 14, Singapore time), Jokic is averaging career-highs in points (29.8) and assists (10.3) to go along with 12.8 boards per game.
That puts him in the frame for the Most Valuable Player award with Oklahoma City Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
With 164 regular-season triple-doubles in his career, three-time MVP Jokic ranks second only behind teammate Russell Westbrook, who has a record 203.
“It’s nice,” Jokic said after the Memphis win. “I didn’t do that before. I don’t know. I don’t know what to say. It’s good.”
Westbrook was the last to average a triple-double for a season, doing so four times, most recently in 2020-21 for the Washington Wizards. He also averaged a triple-double for three straight seasons while with the Oklahoma City Thunder from 2016-17.
Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson was the first to accomplish the feat, in 1961-62 while with the Cincinnati Royals.
“If he doesn’t win the MVP, it’s the greatest season of all time to not win the MVP,” Nuggets interim coach David Adelman said of Jokic.
Meanwhile, after a review by the league office, the NBA on April 12 rescinded a technical foul given to Minnesota Timberwolves’ Anthony Edwards in the April 11 win over the Brooklyn Nets.
Edwards had been scheduled to sit out the April 13 game against the Utah Jazz after acquiring his 18th technical foul of the season for swearing and gesturing while protesting a call in the 117-91 home win.
“I tried to play good defence. They called a foul and he gave me a tech,” Edwards said after the game.
“I don’t feel like it should’ve been a tech, but me and (referee) Ray (Acosta) got a good relationship. We talked it out after the fact.
“But I don’t think I deserved a tech for just that little gesture.”
Edwards, 23, received a league-mandated suspension in late February after receiving his 16th technical foul of the season.
He boasts a team-best average in points (27.4) and is tied for second in assists (4.5) to go along with 5.7 rebounds in 78 games (all starts) this season.
A three-time All-Star, Edwards has contributed 23.8 points, 5.3 boards and 4.2 assists in 380 career games (362 starts) since being selected by the Timberwolves with the top overall pick of the 2020 NBA Draft. REUTERS
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