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It seems like every time Nikola Jokic takes the floor these days we’re likely to see his unique greatness on display—Sunday night’s game against Portland was no different. Jokic played about as aggressive a first quarter as we’ve seen from the big Serbian. He attacked his Bosnian counterpart, Jusuf Nurkic, from the jump, and set the tone for what would be a dominant four quarters of basketball.
Jokic bullied the Blazers down low, dropped in four mortar shots from deep, and even operated as the ball handler in a pick-and-roll with his backup, Mason Plumlee. It resulted in a roof shaking, alley-oop slam.
It was a complete performance from The Joker, one of the best we’ve seen from him in his short, yet brilliant career. In 37 minutes of play, Jokic amassed 40 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists, and shot 65 percent from the floor.
That’s a pretty impressive stat line from a center, and it put him in some exalted company:
Nikola Jokic is only fifth center in NBA since 1985 with 40+ points, 10+ rebounds and 8+ assists joining David Robinson, Hakeem, Shaq and DeMarcus. That's some type of heady company.
— Mike Singer (@msinger) January 14, 2019
Watch Big Honey’s highlights below: