Nikola Jokic's Best Game Of His Best Season (So Far)

Best, and not greatest

Photo by Lightscape on Unsplash

I’ve been lucky enough to be witness to great moments in the NBA over my 17 years writing about the shooty hoops.

I was there for Ray Allen’s corner three. I was there for Jokic and Murray’s double 30-point triple-doubles. I was there for the last game of Tim Duncan’s career. I was there for LeBron’s press conference after he lost the 2011 Finals and there for the Raptors’ first franchise title… and the end of the KD Warriors.

And I was there for Klay Thompson’s Game 6.

The aftermath of that game in OKC has always stuck with me. The arena so quiet and sombor, and it seemed to extend into the tunnels and locker rooms.

Passing media members, you’d make eye contact, one would raise their eyebrows “Can you believe that?” and then both would just shake their heads.

The term is outdated and in non-sports-real-life terms is insensitive¹, but it’s the only word I could think of after that game…

Everyone was shell shocked.

It was a basketball performance that just rattled your sense of believability, and by extension, reality.

The stakes were a little higher in that game —as the Warriors attempted to come back from down 3-1 to keep their 73-win season championship hopes alive— than on Thursday night at Ball Arena as the Kings rolled into altitude on a back to back to face the Nuggets.

But the feeling I had after watching Nikola Jokic that night was the same. Just complete and total shock.