On a night when exhaustion should have claimed him, Nikola Jokić delivered the most prolific scoring triple-double the NBA has ever seen. He finished with a career-high 61 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists — but even that towering line could not prevent the Denver Nuggets from falling 140–139 in double overtime to the Minnesota Timberwolves at Ball Arena.
A record etched across 52 gruelling minutes
The Serbian centre did not leave the floor after half-time, logging 52 minutes and 38 seconds of court time. He forced overtime himself twice, sinking two free throws with 13.9 seconds left in regulation to level at 112, then floating in a shot with 7.3 seconds remaining to knot the first extra period at 125.
Late in the second overtime, a foul on a jump ball sent Jokić to the line. He made one free throw to push Denver ahead 139–138, close to completing a fairytale. Then the final wild sequence unspooled: a steal, a missed layup, a foul in the corner, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker’s last-gasp free throws stole the win for Minnesota.
The third name on a very short list
Jokić’s 61-point triple-double stands alone as the highest-scoring in league history. He becomes only the third player ever to record a 60-point triple-double, joining James Harden (2018) and Luka Dončić (2022). It was his 31st triple-double of the season, arriving barely a month after he posted the league’s first 30–20–20 game.
“The guy’s Superman,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said afterward. “He’s on a whole other level, man.” Malone also revealed that Jokić had approached him after the third quarter and insisted on staying in the contest.
A historic night that ended in defeat
Jokić joined Wilt Chamberlain as only the second player to lose a game when recording at least 50 points within a triple-double. After the final buzzer, the three-time MVP was blunt. “It was an exhausting game,” he told reporters, a quiet endnote to a performance that had bent every rule of what a big man can do.
