WASHINGTON – An “extremely unselfish” Nikola Jokic scored a season-high 42 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to power the reigning National Basketball Association (NBA) champions the Denver Nuggets to a 113-104 victory over the Washington Wizards on Jan 21.
The Serbian superstar centre, a two-time NBA Most Valuable Player, made 15 of 20 shots from the floor and 12 of 14 free throws while adding eight assists, two blocks and two steals at the Capital One Arena in Washington.
“It’s never easy. Not 42. It’s just a mindset. We needed this win. For us, every game is a must-win game,” Jokic said.
His coach Michael Malone added: “Nikola was phenomenal tonight from beginning to end. He continues to illustrate why he’s the player that he is.”
After fans chanted “M-V-P! M-V-P!” as the 28-year-old finished off the game with a couple of free throws, Malone said: “That’s unique. It doesn’t happen very often, so I think it’s just recognising greatness.
“Here’s a guy who was a two-time MVP as a second-round draft pick that brought a franchise their first world championship in history, and he’s a Finals MVP as well.”
Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr each added 19 points for the Nuggets (30-14), who rose within a game of the Western Conference lead, while Kyle Kuzma’s 17 points led Washington (7-35).
Jokic’s wife and daughter attended the game, bringing special joy to his performance.
“It’s amazing. My family means everything to me. It’s something that I’m really proud of. Wherever they go, whatever they do, I know they’re on my side,” he said.
Wizards guard Tyus Jones added: “It’s tough. They do a great job playing off him (Jokic). They’ve got shooting, they’ve got great athletes.
“Him and Jamal are a great one-two tandem, so it provides a great challenge. It’s super unique and he’s just extremely unselfish and I think that’s what really makes it so hard to stop.”
The NBA’s overall leaders, the Boston Celtics, paced by 32 points from Latvian forward Kristaps Porzingis plus Derrick White’s 21 points and 11 rebounds, won 116-107 at the Houston Rockets.
“Early on, I just got a lot of open looks. Missed the first two but stayed aggressive. I knew they were going to fall sooner or later,” said Porzingis, who scored 15 points in the first quarter.
The victory came two nights after Denver edged out Boston 102-100, delivering the Celtics’ first home defeat of the season.
“We know if we want to be a championship-calibre team, we cannot lose multiple games in a row,” Porzingis said. “We had a tough one the other night against Denver at home, another championship-calibre team. We came up a little bit short and took some lessons from that one and wanted to bounce back tonight.”
The Celtics improved the NBA’s best record to 33-10, stretching their lead atop the Eastern Conference to 3½ games over the Milwaukee Bucks.
Boston’s Jayson Tatum added 18 points and Jaylen Brown had a triple-double for the Celtics with 13 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists.
Turkish centre Alperen Sengun had a triple-double for the Rockets with 24 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists at Toyota Centre.
Houston coach Ime Udoka said of his former team: “We had our chances. Our focus and attention to detail were better on certain guys. We did a decent job on Jaylen Brown and Jayson all night – it was just that the others hurt us, especially offensive rebounds from some of their bigs.”
In Phoenix, Kevin Durant scored 40 points on 18-of-25 shooting to spark the Suns to a 117-110 victory over visiting Indiana, with the Pacers playing without star guard Tyrese Haliburton owing to sore hamstring concerns.
Devin Booker added 26 points for the Suns and Bradley Beal had 25 points at Footprint Centre as Phoenix improved to 24-19 and are in seventh place in the West, level with the Dallas Mavericks.
Said Booker of his team’s big three of himself, Durant and Beal: “It’s the definition of pick your poison. All of us coming in with an aggressive mindset, it’ll be hard to stop us – especially late game with the spaces out there.” AFP
