Scoring curse broken: Nuggets finally win a Nikola Jokic 50-point game
Published in Basketball
INGLEWOOD, Calif. — The Clippers’ only hope of stopping Nikola Jokic on a historic night was for a fan to join them on the court and play 6-on-5.
The trespasser late in the fourth quarter was quickly swept aside, like every other obstacle Jokic encountered in a 55-point performance Wednesday at Intuit Dome.
The number itself wasn’t historic. It was Jokic’s second-highest scoring game of his career. The landmark was the result: This was the first time the Nuggets won a game in which Jokic scored 50 or more. They were 0-4 previously, including a playoff game.
Most recently, that included his 61-point triple-double in April that was spoiled by a three-shot foul committed by Russell Westbrook at the buzzer of double-overtime. With that crushing loss, it seemed Jokic’s greatest scoring achievements might be forever cursed.
He performed his own exorcism in Los Angeles, shooting 18 for 23 from the field on the second night of a back-to-back. In the first game, he had scored 35 points on 16-of-19 shooting in a win at Sacramento.
The Nuggets have now won six straight and will be 9-2 heading to Minnesota for the final game of a three-game road trip on Saturday night.
________
©2025 MediaNews Group, Inc. Visit at denverpost.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Comments