Nikola Jokic scored a season-high 55 points Wednesday night as the Denver Nuggets defeated the Los Angeles Clippers 130-116 at Intuit Dome. The performance marked Jokic’s first victory in five career 50-point games, including playoffs. Jokic reached 52 points through three quarters on 18-of-23 shooting while adding 12 rebounds and six assists in Denver’s ninth win of the season.
The three-time MVP had previously gone winless in four 50-point performances, including a career-high 61 points in an overtime loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves last season.
“I think I scored like a bunch – not a bunch, but like a couple times, more than 50 – we lost every time,” Jokic said. “This is the first time I scored 50 and we won. So it’s a good feeling.”
Aaron Gordon expressed surprise upon learning of Jokic’s previous 50-point futility.
“Really?” Gordon responded. “That is surprising. I’m going to give him some stuff about that.”
The Clippers employed multiple defensive schemes but failed to slow Jokic, who made all seven field goal attempts in the third quarter. Tyronn Lue acknowledged the challenge of defending the versatile big man.
“Our game plan was to make him score, just take away his passing, take everybody else out the game,” Lue said. “I thought the first half, we did a good job with that. But I didn’t think he’d get 55.”
Jokic’s 55 points ranked third-most ever by a Clippers opponent, trailing only David Robinson’s 71 in 1994 and Shaquille O’Neal’s 61 in 2000.
Denver rallied from a 10-point deficit before halftime to lead by as many as 22 in the second half. The victory came in the teams’ first meeting since the Nuggets eliminated Los Angeles in seven games during last season’s Western Conference quarterfinals.
“We kind of just played our brand of basketball: split games, pick-and-roll, whatever. Post ups,” Jokic said. “We just continued to play, and that gave us a result.”