Denver Nuggets coach David Adelman shifted in his chair, let loose a wry smile and shook his head.“If Nikola doesn’t win MVP, it will be the greatest season of all time to not win MVP,” he said. On Friday night, Nuggets center Nikola Jokić became the third player in NBA history to average a triple-double for an entire season, joining Oscar Robertson and his teammate Russell Westbrook in achieving the feat. Jokić is averaging 29.8 points, 12.8 rebounds and 10.3 assists per game this season. He has played 69 games and has 709 assists. Even if he doesn’t deliver an assist on Sunday in Houston against the Rockets, he’d still average 10.1 assists for this campaign.
Nikola Jokic will average a triple-double for the season, making the Denver Nuggets star the third player in NBA history to pull off such a feat. It became statistically certain Friday night when Jokic got his fourth assist in the Nuggets' 117-109 win over the Memphis Grizzlies. That assist was his 700th of the season, so even if he didn't get another before the end of the regular season Sunday, which would be his 70th game, he was assured of averaging no worse than 10.0 assists