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Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets completed their sweep of the Lakers on Monday and are marching on to the first NBA Finals in franchise history. Jokic was named Western Conference finals MVP (now known as the Earvin 'Magic' Johnson award) after averaging 27 points, 14.7 rebounds and 11.3 assists for the series.
A little playoff triple-double history for you, per CBS Sports research:
Jokic finished with 30 points, 14 rebounds and 13 assists in the clincher on Monday. That's his eighth triple-double of these playoffs, an NBA record for a single postseason, and he still has one series left. Jokic is now averaging 29.9 points, 13.3 rebounds, 10.3 assists in these playoffs. He is the first player in history to average a triple-double through the first 15 games of a postseason. As long as Jokic tallies at least six assists in Game 1 of the Finals, he'll be the first to average a triple-double through 16 games. Jokic averaged 27.8 points, 14,.5 rebonds and 11.7 assists against the Lakers, making him the first player in history to average a triple-double in a best-of-7 series sweep. Jokic, who put up 34.5 points, 13.2 rebounds and 10.3 assists against the Suns in the second round, now owns two of the five highest scoring averages for any player who has averaged a triple-double over a full playoff series.PLAYER
(Triple-Double) PPG
YEAR
Russell Westbrook
37.4
2017
Nikola Jokic
34.5
2023
LeBron James
33.6
2017
Wilt Chamberlain
28.0
1967
Nikola Jokic
27.8
2023
Here's a cool nugget, too: Jamal Murray finished with 52.7/40.5/95.0 shooting splits against the Lakers. It marks the first time in history that a player has shot 50-40-90 in a best-of-7 series sweep.
Tough to beat the Nuggets with the Jokic-Murray duo operating at this literally historic level. Only one more team will have the chance to put Denver down. That will likely be the Miami Heat, who on the verge of their own sweep over the Celtics with Game 4 set for Tuesday.
