At this point, there was not much doubt about it, but Nikola Jokic has confirmed that he is the best passing center in history. The statistics books already say so, reaffirming what he does every night on the court. In the win over the Magic (126-115) he dished out 13 assists and surpassed the 5,660 handed out by the legendary Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. The Serbian broke the mark with 6:26 left in the first half, when he passed to Jalen Pickett for a three-pointer. By the end of the game he had 5,667 assists in his career.
“I always say those things are something for after the career. I think the legacy for after my career is that I’ll look back and sit on the porch drinking beer and telling lies to my kids,” he joked.
The big difference, abysmal in this case, with Jabbar lies in the volume of games. The Bucks and Lakers center reached his milestone over 1,560 games. Jokic has needed less than half that: 770. One ended his long career with 3.6 assists per game. The other is averaging 7.3. This season he is the NBA’s leading assist man with 10.9 per game. He is on track to finish his third consecutive season above double figures. It’s crazy.
The legacy for after my career is that I’ll look back and sit on the porch drinking beer and telling lies to my kids
To his 13 assists, Jokic added 23 points and 11 rebounds to earn his 13th triple-double of the season in just 26 games. He is also the leader in that statistic.
To achieve the victory he was helped by Jamal Murray, who scored 20 of his 32 points in the second quarter. The shooting guard is on track for his first All-Star nomination thanks to his career-best average of 25.2 points. In December, the figure has grown to 28.1.
A historic assist that propels the Nuggets
In that second quarter, when Murray hit 5/6 three-pointers, the Nuggets broke the game, having been down by 14 points (33-47). Just with Jokic’s historic assist, as if his team was on a high from the moment, they started a 35-7 run that turned the game around to 68-54.
The Magic played without the injured Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs, who was injured in the NBA Cup semifinal against the Knicks. Without them, the leaders were Paolo Banchero, who achieved the third triple-double of his career with 26+16+10, and Wendell Carter Jr., who also reached 26 points.
Read the full article here
