Basketball fans witnessed two incredible offensive displays on Tuesday night. Stephen Curry scored 52 points and made 12 three-pointers, while Nikola Jokic had a career-best 61 points against the Timberwolves in a truly wild game.
Notably, this was the first time in NBA history that two former MVPs scored 50 points on the same night, and only the second time two players have achieved at least 50 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists in a single night, following Wilt Chamberlain and Elgin Baylor in 1963.
Curry was amazing on Tuesday, but Jokic was even more impressive.
However, unlike Curry`s performance which resulted in a win, Jokic`s incredible game was overshadowed by two late errors from Russell Westbrook. These mistakes essentially handed Minnesota a double-overtime victory after Denver seemed to have the game under control.
With less than 15 seconds remaining in double overtime and Denver leading by one point, Westbrook was in perfect position to receive a bad pass from Anthony Edwards. Westbrook had two options: advance the ball to the frontcourt to find a better free-throw shooter as the Timberwolves would have to foul, or drive to the basket with a 2-on-1 advantage.
He chose to drive for a layup, which wasn`t necessarily a bad choice. Whether through free throws or a basket, the Nuggets would only have been up by three, with time still left for the Timberwolves. The issue wasn`t the decision to go for the layup itself.
The real problems were that Westbrook completely missed the layup and then fouled Nickeil Alexander-Walker on a three-point attempt with just a fraction of a second left on the clock.
Alexander-Walker made the first two free throws, securing a 140-139 win for the Timberwolves. It was a disappointing end for Jokic’s phenomenal performance.
These things happen in basketball. It was an unbelievably close game with thrilling plays and shots from both teams for a long stretch. Westbrook will face criticism for this, and rightly so. The missed layup was far off, and recklessly challenging a three-point shooter wasn`t a good decision, even in the pressure of the final seconds.
With this loss, the Nuggets are now tied in losses with the Lakers for the 3rd and 4th seed positions, while the Timberwolves are tied with the Grizzlies for the No. 6 seed with six games remaining. Anthony Edwards also played exceptionally well for the Timberwolves, scoring 34 points, with 10 rebounds and eight assists, including several crucial shots in the final moments.
But the night belonged to Jokic. He also had 10 assists and 10 rebounds, making it the highest scoring triple-double in NBA history. The only other players with a 60-point triple-double are James Harden in 2018 and Luka Doncic in 2022.
Perhaps the most impressive stat for Jokic was his playing time: 52 minutes. After returning to the game with 6:28 left in the second quarter, he didn`t leave the court again, playing over 40 consecutive minutes.
Unfortunately, it didn`t result in a win for the Nuggets. This isn`t to diminish the Timberwolves` victory, who played outstanding basketball despite missing opportunities to win at the end of regulation and the first overtime. It just feels like Jokic deserved the win.
Jasper Hawthorne