Nikola Jokic Messed Around And Made Some NBA History With The First Ever 30-20-20 Game

Garrett Ellwood. Getty Images.

If there's one common theme for this week in the NBA, it's that if you tuned in, you were rewarded by seeing a whole lot of NBA history. First, there was LeBron creating the 50,000 Point Club. A number so insane that we may not see another member join that club in our lifetimes. Then came Payton Pritchard and Derrick White and their NBA history when they made a combined 19 3PMs in the same game. It's still crazy that they were the first teammates ever, in the history of the league, to make at least 9 3PM in the same NBA game. Who the hell saw that coming?

Up next, we had Giannis break through and join the 20,000 Point Club, a benchmark that pretty much solidified him as an All Time Great. Mix in the Cavs' third winning streak of 12+ games which has only been done a couple of other times in history, and it's been a pretty historic week.

So it was only right that on Friday night, we didn't just witness more NBA history, we witnessed one of the most insane individual performances of all time. 

Come on man. 31/21/22????????? Oh, and just so you know, Jokic only took 3 FTA in this OT win. Give yourself a second to even attempt to process a 31/21/22 by a center with a 66% TS%. I mean what the fuck. And while we also shouldn't overlook that absolutely massive Christain Braun 3s to help the Nuggets seal this win, let's not get silly. This is about Nikola Jokic, the best player in the world, doing more shit the NBA has never seen before. It feels like we get a lot of ridiculous Jokic lines and individual performances, but I'm not even sure I would think something like this was possible. 

We saw Westbrook have 20/20/20, and Jokic has had a 30/20/15 before, but this is an entirely new level. The way he took over OT was a masterclass in MVP dominance. The Nuggets went 8-9 to pull away with the win, and that was basically all Jokic either through scoring or creating for others. I'm not sure how anyone could watch a performance like this and suggest there is a player out there who is more valuable to their team than Nikola Jokic. Isn't that what the MVP should be all about?

This is nothing to take away from SGA or his season. He's over in OKC making his own NBA history on a nightly basis. Hes having one of the greatest guard seasons the league has ever seen, and it's not even really all that close.

The thing is, Nikola Jokic is having one of the greatest seasons any player has ever had, regardless of position. He's putting up lines that no player, ever, not even Wilt ever put up. 

Again I ask you to just take a second and think about what I am saying and what we are seeing.

Frankly, this performance came at the perfect time. Jokic doing historic shit while the Thunder win by 18 without SGA playing, the MVP race is very much still alive. Why does that matter? Guess what comes next

You could make the case that these two games are going to decide the MVP race. It shouldn't come down to just two games, but you are out of your mind if you don't think whatever happens after these two games isn't going to be used to shape the MVP narrative. Not only are the games important (mostly for DEN), but both Jokic and SGA have such worthy MVP cases, you need something to be a differentiator and as of now, they've split the H2H matchup. 

If Jokic goes into OKC and throws up 30/20/20 and the Nuggets win? I'm not sure how you don't give him the MVP. If SGA goes for another 50 bomb and the Thunder blow doors? He makes a compelling case. It's going to be fascinating to watch.

But at this point, I'm sorry. Personally I have Jokic ahead. His production is just too insane to ignore. He literally does EVERYTHING for the Nuggets, unlike any other player in the league. He's the best player in the world, and as we saw in this win on any given night he's a threat to fuck around and make NBA history. What a player.