The Los Angeles Lakers were halted in their tracks after an impressive 5-game winning run. They faced Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets, who are sitting pretty at the top of the table. Because their offensive stalwart LeBron James sat out, this game was doomed from the start.
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With a starting lineup that included the likes of Max Christie and Patrick Beverley, Darwin Ham knew this game was lost. But that did not stop the Nuggets from going out and playing their usual game, because they dominated right from the beginning.
Nikola Jokic was subdued, but he also had a record-tying night. He barely took any shots but got his triple-double. Scoring 14 points, he assisted a further 16 baskets by the Nuggets, which put him at 11 triple-doubles for the season.
But one thing that stood out about the statistic was the field goal percentage. We’ve seen players average an impressive point total, but that was on high-volume shooting. Russell Westbrook is the perfect example—his triple-doubles in OKC and Houston have been on atrocious shooting percentages.
But Nikola Jokic was the opposite. He made all of his shots, recording a 100% FG line. He took five shots, scoring one three-pointer in the process. The stat line looks very 90s, considering how many 3s one takes, but it just shows how efficient Jokic is.
Draymond Green also has 2 triple-doubles of this caliber – Nikola Jokic tied him tonight
It is surprising, but Draymond Green has 42 career triple-doubles. For someone who’s teased as “Mr. Triple Single,” 42 double-digit statistics are noteworthy. His four-point triple-double sparked outrage among NBA fans, but he also has two 100% FG triple-doubles.
In 2015-16, he scored 14 points on 4 FGs, out of which 2 were 3-pointers. And the second time was also in the 2015-16 season, when he shot nine times, making all of them.
Jokic matched Draymond Green’s first triple-double performance against the Lakers tonight. Russell Westbrook was also right in front of Mr. Triple Double!
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Russell Westbrook was the one who was trying all night – He could not do much against a full-strength Nuggets
The game looked like a lost cause right from the start, but Russell Westbrook tried to make it competitive. Scoring 25 points and dishing out 7 assists, he tried to make the difference a lot less embarrassing. Too bad another PG didn’t feel that way with his 0 points and 1 rebound performance (cough, cough, Patrick Beverley).
The Lakers are teetering on the edge of being a good team, but their decision-making is bewildering at times. They come so close to being a.500 team and reaching as high as the sixth seed, only to lose this game. Watch how this becomes a 5-game slide.
It’s almost like a game of chutes and ladders, except the roll they take takes them three steps forward and five steps back.
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