The superlatives for Nikola Jokic are beginning to run out as the Denver Nuggets big man continues to find ways to leave your jaw on the floor.
Fresh off dropping 39 points against the Chicago Bulls yesterday, on the second night of a back-to-back, Jokic turned in a masterful performance, on the road against the Milwaukee Bucks - winners of five-straight - dropping 37 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds.
With his 50th triple-double of his career and ninth of the season, Jokic joined some elite company in the process, becoming just the second center in NBA history, along with Wilt Chamberlain to record 50 triple-doubles.
It's taken Jokic just 416 games, compared to Chamberlain's 703.
Nikola Jokic had his 50th triple-double tonight — joining Wilt Chamberlain as the only centers in NBA history to reach that milestone.
— StatMuse (@statmuse) March 3, 2021
Jokic did it in 416 games.
Wilt did it in 703 games. pic.twitter.com/Mtf3uaYVVE
For context, he now has more triple-doubles than Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Bill Russell Bill Walton Shaquille O’Neal Patrick Ewing Tim Duncan....combined.
Jokic needs just 19 triple-doubles to pass Chamberlain to become the center with the most career triple-doubles and at just 26 years old, he's got time on his side.
Players with 50 career triple-doubles
| Player | Triple-doubles |
| Oscar Robertson | 181 |
| Russell Westbrook* | 156 |
| Magic Johnson | 138 |
| Jason Kidd | 107 |
| LeBron James* | 97 |
| Wilt Chamberlin | 78 |
| Larry Bird | 59 |
| James Harden* | 53 |
| Nikola Jokic* | 50 |
*Active players
The Serbian All-Star is putting together one of the best offensive seasons by a big man in recent years and through the first 35 games of the season, he's averaging 27.3 points, 11.0 rebounds and 8.6 assists on 56.9 shooting from the field and 41.7 percent from the 3-point line. Tonight's effort marked his 15th game of the season with 10+ assists and 11th game of the season with 35+ points.
The Nuggets have now won four of their past five games, improving to 20-15 on the season, with their 128-97 win over the Bucks giving them a statement victory they can hang their hat on with the All-Star break on the horizon.
The Bucks were coming off five-straight wins, anchored by the superb play of reigning MVP and Defensive Player of the Year Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Giannis against the Nuggets:
— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) March 3, 2021
27 PTS | 8 REB | 3 AST | 2 BLK | 1 STL pic.twitter.com/BAFvfIBcdo
“It’s definitely up there for best win of the year...You have every reason to just walk into this game… just to say, ‘Well, it’s been a good road trip so far,'” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “Our guys never did that. That was never our approach. We prepared to win.”
Six Nuggets players scored in double figures in the win with Jamal Murray recording 24 points and six assists, while PJ Dozier chipped in 19 points off the bench.
Denver will close out their road trip on Thursday (ET) against the Indiana Pacers, their final game before the All-Star break.
The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NBA or its clubs.