By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
You’d never like to be part of history on the wrong side of it, but even the players, coaching staff and fans of the Phoenix Suns must have appreciated the historic and unprecedented show that Nikola Jokic was putting on to lead the Denver Nuggets to the 149-141 victory in overtime.
With the first-ever 30+20+20 performance in NBA history – actually 31 points, 21 rebounds, and 22 assists -, the Joker shocked everybody, even one of the best players of all time like Kevin Durant.
“It was a fast-paced game, with so many possessions. The whole offense is centered around him making a play. I’m actually kind of surprised he hasn’t done this before. He has been so close. All-time great, man. All-time great. The crazy thing is that he didn’t seem he have those numbers,” he reacted.
Kevin Durant explained he didn’t notice such a performance was taking place. “I looked up towards the end of overtime and said, “Oh shit, 30+20+20″. That was crazy. He gets the ball every play, so the numbers are gonna pile up, especially in overtime,” he added.
“He’s an all-time great, you’re not gonna take anything away from him actually. He averages a certsan amount of points for a reason. Playing hard. We can live with playing hard, but if he hits shots over, it makes it extremely hard for the whole game. It’s Jokic, he makes shots. I’m not saying any part of his game is weak,but werith players like that you have to play hard and see what happens,” Durant said.
Finally, when asked about the race for the MVP, he underlined the Serbian center can’t be an underdog: “Jokic is never an underdog, in any situation. I don’t know who should be [the MVP], both play great ball but Jokic is not going to be an underdog ever again. That is out of the window after his first MVP.”
PHOTO CREDIT: Getty Images