Buried and Resurrected by the Joker
Denver trailed the Portland Trail Blazers by 16 points with 8:13 left in the fourth quarter on Monday night. The Blazers had set a franchise record with their shooting from deep. Toumani Camara had 30 points. Deni Avdija was hitting free throws at a remarkable 13-for-14 clip. By every reasonable measure, this game was over.
Then Nikola Jokic decided otherwise. The result: Denver Nuggets 137, Portland Trail Blazers 132. Overtime. His 33rd triple-double of the season — 35 points, 13 rebounds, 13 assists — and the most improbable comeback in a season full of them.
How the Nuggets Came Back
Jokic’s genius is that he does not win games the same way twice. He does not have one gear or one weapon. Against Portland, down 16, he began manufacturing everything — attacking the paint, finding open shooters, collecting offensive rebounds and extending possessions. The fourth quarter became a masterclass in basketball intelligence under pressure.
Jamal Murray, who finished with 20 points, contributed seven of those in overtime when they mattered most. The Nuggets outscored Portland in the final minutes of regulation and then dominated the extra period to complete the comeback that no reasonable observer expected. Denver’s 51-28 record now puts them a half-game ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers (50-28) for the third seed in the Western Conference.
Portland’s Extraordinary Effort That Wasn’t Enough
The Trail Blazers deserved a better fate. Portland set a franchise record with 25 made three-pointers — a number that would win most games in any era of NBA basketball. Camara’s performance from three (eight makes) was remarkable. Avdija’s 26 points on a near-perfect night from the free-throw line showcased how far he has developed this season. The Blazers built their lead the right way and had every reason to close it out.
What Portland ran into was not a bad defensive team or a lucky bounce. They ran into Nikola Jokic, who has spent this entire season demonstrating that he cannot be contained by conventional game plans. When the score got tight, Portland had no answer for Denver’s No. 15, and no answer was coming.
The Triple-Double Machine Keeps Running
Jokic now has 33 triple-doubles this season, the most in the NBA. He entered Monday already on pace to become only the second player in basketball history — after Russell Westbrook — to average a triple-double across back-to-back full seasons. With three games remaining, those averages (27.7 points, 13.0 rebounds, 10.8 assists entering Monday) appear safe.
The argument for Jokic in the MVP conversation does not rest on any single statistic. It rests on games like Monday night — a game his team had no business winning, against a Portland squad that played brilliantly, in which Jokic individually outweighed every advantage the Blazers had built up.
What’s Next
Denver finishes the regular season with three games remaining. The Nuggets are fighting to hold or improve their No. 3 seed in the West, which would keep them out of a potential first-round matchup with either OKC or San Antonio. Jokic’s triple-double season average appears locked in — the question now is whether his case for a fourth MVP award is enough to overcome SGA’s dominant campaign with Oklahoma City. The votes will decide it. But Monday night was a reminder that nobody in the league does what Jokic does.
