Nikola Jokic has tied Wilt Chamberlain's record for the most "perfect" triple-double - a triple-double with perfect shooting. Jokic's 26/14/10 night with 11-for-11 shooting helped the Nuggets halt the four-game run of the Memphis Grizzlies. The Grizzlies had appeared unstoppable since the return of Ja Morant. However, the performance marked Jokic's third such triple-double, tying the long-standing mark set by Chamberlain. The only other player in NBA history to record multiple "perfect" triple-doubles is Draymond Green with two.
However, Jokic was humble when speaking about the game. "It's a miss and make game. Of course, sometimes you miss, sometimes you make. Today I made all of my shots. It's not going to be a lot of those nights," Jokic said. However, Jokic sat out the last 1:31 of the third quarter and the entire fourth quarter after achieving the stats needed for the triple-double. Furthermore, head coach Mike Malone echoed Jokic's comments. "[Jokic] was 11-for-11 tonight. He doesn't care about that. If Jamal has got it going, he's clapping for Jamal. He takes more joy in his teammates' success [than his own], and that's the true definition of being selfless. And he lives it every day," Malone said.
Dwight Howard Claims His Prime Was Better Than Nikola Jokic
While Jokic consistently finds himself in rare company, there are those who don't see him as a true GOAT. "So, people look at that and say, "Well, Jokić, he scores and does all this stuff." And no offense, I think he's great. I love Jokić, I don't want people to think that I'm trying to hate even comparing, but I'm going to take myself. I know how dominant I was and I know what I could do with my skills. And on the defensive end and on the offensive end I was quick enough to get past everybody," Dwight Howard told Complex in July.
Furthermore, he continued to expound on how he compared to Jokic. "So, I didn't necessarily have to use skill moves and stuff like that all the time to score. I use my speed a lot, I use power to finesse or sometimes speed to finish with power. I just had an array of different things but people just remember seeing me dunk the ball on people's head. And I love Jokić and I'm happy for him. I think he's one of the best centers that ever played the game on basketball. [But] I'm Dwight Howard. I know what I've done in this league." At the time of writing, Howard has 19485 points (55th) and 10476 rebounds (10th). Jokic has 12897 points (227th) and 6669 rebounds (137th).
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