There are things a basketball player can do on a court playing the grandest stage for it – the NBA. There are limits to it. Unless, of course, it’s not Wilt Chamberlain himself. But then there is Nikola Jokic.
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It’s like the Serbian international has channeled his inner Wilt for the past 2–3 seasons and has made it a point to do everything possible whenever takes it to the hardwood these days.
Just last night, he hit a game-winning three out of nowhere in a tie-game situation with few seconds to go, when everyone was thinking he was looking to pass the rock to one of his teammates.
Most of us were thinking something wasn’t right when he was winning MVP after MVP for the last two seasons over the likes of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Stephen Curry, weren’t we? But players who were facing him on a nightly basis knew it was legit. The Joker is legit.
When Nikola Jokic made Larry Nance Jr forget LeBron James’ 50 points vs. the Warriors
The Golden State Warriors weren’t just the best offensive team in the NBA when they were in their amazing run from 2014 to 2019, their defense was elite as well. And Nance saw LeBron James being the one-man army against them in the 2018 Playoffs.
James came up with a 50-point performance in a Game 1, 124-114 loss, which had he won could have become one of the best individual performances in modern-day basketball.
The Pelicans’ big man did have it as the #1 performance he’d ever witnessed until he faced Jokic and his Denver Nuggets last season when Nikola put up 46 points, 12 rebounds, and 11 assists in an OT win.
“The most impressive performance was this year when we played in Denver and were up maybe 20 at half, and Jokic kind of showed up. He came out the second half, and I think he had 33 and 12. … It was the most impressive performance I’ve ever seen on an NBA court, period.” said Larry Nance Jr. on the Road Trippin podcast.
How good was LeBron’s 50-point night against the Dubs?
James has had quite a few breathtaking team and individual performances in the NBA, and most of them came against the Warriors, but this 51p-8r-8a on 19/32 from the field, in Game 1 of the 2018 NBA Finals was probably the best.
Save for that one mishap at the end of regulation where J.R. Smith’s mistake took it to overtime, that game was as exciting as it gets in the Finals. Who knows what could have gone on in that series if they did win? The King was leading one of the worst teams in Finals history, too.
Had the Cavaliers won that game, James’ performance could have gone down as the best individual performance in an NBA Finals Game.
