By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Denver Nuggets defeated Memphis Grizzlies 105-91, with Nikola Jokic having the 82nd triple-double of his career.
He had a unique stat line with 13 points, rebounds, and assists and tied with Luka Doncic for most triple-doubles of the season with six.
After a performance that has been seen just twice in the last 40 years, with only Magic Johnson and Larry Bird having exactly 13/13/13 games, the Joker shared his impressions talking to the Inside the NBA crew on TNT.
“I don’t want to say it doesn’t mean anything because I never even dreamed of it or tried to make it. It just happened. I never force it, chasing the stats. It’s a nice honor and a thing“, Jokic said about his 82nd triple-double.
Shaquille O’Neal asked him if he ever said to himself that he’ll be one of the best big men ever to play the game.
“No, because you were there,” Jokic humbly answered.
Shaq said “Spasibo” as he tried to thank Jokic in his native language, making Denver center furious.
“That is Russian. It’s ‘Hvala’ in my language,” Jokic explained while laughing.
The Serbian center prefers passing to scoring.
“To be honest, when everybody is passing the ball, that’s the game’s beauty. Assists make people happy, points just one“.
He also said that last night’s game should be the recipe for the rest of the season.
“This game, our defense was amazing. We were aggressive from the start. We maybe lacked that in the third quarter, but generally, we had a really good defensive night. That’s the key for us to succeed deep in the playoffs“.