Jokic's historic stat run
Nikola Jokić is doing something no NBA player has done before — he was leading the entire league in both rebounds and assists with three regular-season games left, a rare double for any player and especially for a center. (x.com)
With three games left in the regular season, Nikola Jokić was sitting at 12.9 rebounds per game and 10.9 assists per game, which put the Denver center first in the entire National Basketball Association in both categories at once. (basketball-reference.com) That almost never happens because rebounds usually belong to the tallest players near the rim, while assists usually belong to guards who bring the ball up and start the offense. Jokić is a 6-foot-11 center, and centers are usually asked to finish plays, not run every play. (espn.com) The assist part is the strangest piece. Jokić was averaging 10.9 assists, ahead of every point guard in the league, while also averaging 27.8 points and shooting 56.9 percent from the field. (espn.com) The rebound part is not empty stat-padding either. Basketball Reference had him first in rebounds per game at 12.9 and first in defensive rebounds per game at 10.0, which means he was ending possessions as often as he was starting them. (basketball-reference.com) You can see how he built the lead by looking at the last two weeks. On March 25 against Dallas, he had 21 rebounds and 19 assists, and on March 24 against Phoenix, he had 17 rebounds and 17 assists in back-to-back games. (espn.com) He kept stacking those lines in April too. In Denver’s first four April games, he averaged 13.8 rebounds and 12.0 assists, including 17 rebounds and 12 assists at Utah on April 1 and 14 rebounds and 13 assists against Portland on April 6. (espn.com) The team context makes it louder. Denver had climbed to 52-28 and third place in the Western Conference on a 10-game winning streak, so these numbers were coming while the Nuggets were pushing for playoff position, not coasting through April. (espn.com) Jokić has been a playmaking center for years, but this season turned that style into a full league takeover. Basketball Reference listed him first in total assists with 696 and first in assists per game, so he was not just creating a lot for a big man; he was creating more than everyone. (basketball-reference.com) That is why this stat run feels so unusual: the same player was functioning like the league’s best rebound vacuum and its busiest table-setter at the same time. In a sport that usually splits those jobs between a center and a guard, Jokić was doing both himself with three games still left on the schedule. (basketball-reference.com)
