On Saturday, Nikola Jokic recorded his first 50-point game in a stunning individual effort. Although, his Denver Nuggets lost to the Sacramento Kings 119-114.
The potential MVP went 20-of-33 from the field with a trio of three-pointers, eight rebounds and 12 assists. He also shot a perfect 7-of-7 from the free-throw line. No other Nuggets player had more than 14 points.
Before Saturday’s offensive outburst, Jokic had not scored more than 47 points. That came during Denver’s last win, two games earlier, when the Nuggets beat the Utah Jazz 128-117. Denver has still lost three of its last four and finds itself 12-10 and 5.5 games behind Utah in the Northwest Division.
On the other hand, it was Sacramento’s third victory against Denver and the sixth in their last seven outings overall – improving to 11-11. Their record can be credited to their star rookie, Tyrese Haliburton, who scored 12 of his career-high 23 points in the fourth quarter and added four rebounds, six assists and two steals in another strong game. He was also named Western Conference Rookie of the Month for December/January.
Jokic may have put himself in the lead of the MVP race with Saturday’s performance as he did the majority of his work against the Kings in the paint, taking advantage of matchups against Marvin Bagley III, Hassan Whiteside and Richaun Holmes. The Serb drained 15 of his buckets only a few feet from the rim and freely found a man to kick to when he didn’t have a shot.
Over his last five games, Jokic is averaging 33.2 points per game. Other contenders in the MVP race along with him are LeBron James, Joel Embiid and Kevin Durant.
