Our new episode of Hoops From Casual Diehard with debuting guest Martin Rickman is a whirlwind journey through the NBA, getting ready for the playoffs by examining potential intriguing matchups and what might come to pass as the regular season winds down toward its conclusion. We now know all 20 teams that will be involved in the play-in and playoffs, but not their seeding order. Is it as simple as being a two-month march to an inevitable Denver-Boston collision in the Finals? Maybe, but that’s why they play the games, and Nuggets-Celtics would be a heck of a matchup if that’s how it does wind up.
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All of the talk about the way the Nuggets have it figured out and the near certainty of a third MVP in four years for Nikola Jokić made me dig a little deeper on Denver’s big fella.
On February 12 in Milwaukee, Jokić scored 29 points with 12 rebounds, eight assists, and no steals or blocks. This exact boxscore line had been posted only twice before in NBA history – on April 20, 2019 and May 5, 2019 – by Jokić himself in playoff games against San Antonio and Portland.
In a couple of months of looking at NBA points-rebounds-assists-steals-blocks stat lines and seeing if they’ve been done before, this was the first time spotting a combo achieved three times in history, all by the same player. It’s hard to call it a signature Jokić game when it didn’t have any steals or blocks, but nobody else has ever gone for 29-12-8-0-0, it’s all his.
Jokić is one of a few players who regularly put up never-before-seen stat lines, a phenomenon I’ve called Hartgami for Josh Hart, and that’s been seen online as Wembygami for Victor Wembanyama. But what might be more interesting is when a player is second to reach a particular number combo and you get to see who they’re matching.
This season, Jokić has 14 of those games, and the range of players he’s pulled up alongside is mind-blowing. How could one player put up Isiah Thomas and Alex Caruso games in the same season he’s emulating Karl Malone and Giannis Antetokounmpo. Not to mention the Larry Bird and Kevin Garnett of it all. These are not similarl players, but on any given night, Jokić can just as easily drop a LeBron James game on you as he could a Russell Westbrook game.
Take a look at the lines Jokić has posted this season that had only been recorded once before:
Nov. 24 at Houston: 38-19-8-3-0 (1997 Karl Malone)
Dec. 8 vs. Houston: 23-16-5-0-2 (2017 Karl-Anthony Towns)
Dec. 14 vs. Brooklyn: 26-14-10-1-0 (2021 Russell Westbrook)
Dec. 23 at Charlotte: 18-10-9-1-1 (2020 Giannis Antetokounmpo)
Dec. 25 vs. Golden State: 26-14-8-0-0 (2006 Kevin Garnett)
Jan 5 vs. Orlando: 29-4-8-3-0 (1988 Isiah Thomas)
Jan. 10 at Utah: 27-11-6-1-0 (1986 Larry Bird)
Jan. 21 at Washington: 42-12-8-2-2 (2022 Giannis Antetokounmpo)
Feb. 8 at L.A. Lakers: 24-13-9-0-3 (2007 LeBron James)
Feb. 9 at Sacramento: 23-8-7-3-0 (1992 Reggie Williams)
Mar. 17 at Dallas: 16-11-7-2-0 (1990 Detlef Schrempf)
Mar. 25 vs. Memphis: 29-11-8-3-1 (2018 Aaron Gordon)
Mar. 29 vs. Minnesota: 32-10-5-2-1 (2019 Alex Caruso)
Apr. 9 at Utah: 28-13-7-3-1 (2021 LaMelo Ball)
Jokić has put up a never-before-seen line in more than half of Denver’s games this season. It’s incredible because he’s already had two MVP seasons, nearly had a third, and he’s still finding new ways to make history on most nights he shows up at the gym.
New stat lines achieved by Nikola Jokić in 2023-24:
Oct. 24 vs. L.A. Lakers: 29-13-11-1-1
Oct. 29 at Oklahoma City: 28-14-5-0-0
Oct. 30 vs. Utah: 27-10-11-0-2
Nov. 3 vs. Dallas: 33-14-9-1-1
Nov. 4 vs. Chicago: 28-16-9-3-0
Nov. 6 vs. New Orleans: 35-14-12-1-1
Nov. 8 vs. Golden State: 35-13-5-3-1
Nov. 12 at Houston: 36-21-11-0-1
Nov. 14 vs. L.A. Clippers: 32-16-9-1-0
Nov. 17 at New Orleans: 26-16-18-1-1
Nov. 22 at Orlando: 30-13-12-3-2
Nov. 26 vs. San Antonio: 39-11-9-1-0
Nov. 29 vs. Houston: 32-10-15-1-0
Dec. 1 at Phoenix: 21-5-16-1-2
Dec. 2 at Sacramento: 36-13-14-2-1
Dec. 6 at L.A. Clippers: 22-5-10-1-0
Dec. 11 at Atlanta: 25-8-9-3-2
Dec. 16 vs. Oklahoma City: 24-6-12-2-0
Dec. 20 at Toronto: 31-15-6-0-2
Dec. 22 at Brooklyn: 31-11-7-3-2
Dec. 28 vs. Memphis: 26-14-10-0-2
Jan. 4 at Golden State: 34-9-10-2-1
Jan. 7 vs. Detroit: 4-7-16-0-5
Jan. 12 vs. New Orleans: 27-10-14-0-1
Jan. 14 vs. Indiana: 25-12-9-2-1
Jan. 16 at Philadelphia: 25-19-3-1-1
Jan. 19 at Boston: 34-12-9-0-0
Jan. 23 at Indiana: 31-13-10-0-1
Jan. 27 vs. Philadelphia: 26-16-7-2-0
Jan. 29 vs. Milwaukee: 25-16-12-3-2
Feb. 2 vs. Portland: 27-22-12-1-2
Feb. 22 vs. Washington: 21-19-15-1-0
Feb. 23 at Portland: 29-15-14-2-1
Feb. 25 at Golden State: 32-16-16-4-1
Feb. 28 vs. Sacramento: 14-14-11-3-1
Mar. 2 at L.A. Lakers: 35-10-7-0-1
Mar. 5 vs. Phoenix: 25-16-5-0-0
Mar. 7 vs. Boston: 32-12-11-2-0
Mar. 11 vs. Toronto: 35-17-12-6-2
Mar. 15 at San Antonio: 31-7-5-0-2
Mar. 19 at Minnesota: 35-16-2-0-0
Mar. 21 vs. New York: 30-14-11-1-0
Mar. 27 vs. Phoenix: 22-9-10-2-1
Mar. 31 vs. Cleveland: 26-18-16-1-0
Apr. 2 vs. San Antonio: 42-16-6-1-2
Apr. 4 at L.A. Clippers: 36-17-10-0-0
Apr. 6 vs. Atlanta: 19-14-11-2-0
It’s incredible what Jokić has been doing, even more amazing that he’s not alone as other NBA players also continue to find new stat combinations and take the league forward, and maybe most amazing of all that there’s still so much we haven’t seen – knowing that Jokić and Wembanyama and others are going to show us.