Jokic, Murray, put up historic numbers together in Nuggets' win

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DENVER (AP) — Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic have had historic games for the Denver Nuggets before, but rarely do they occur on the same night.

Wednesday was one of those rare nights for the franchise cornerstones.

Murray scored a season-high 53 points and Jokic had his 30th triple-double of the season with 23 points, 21 points and 19 assists in a 142-135 win over the Dallas Mavericks.

Denver is the first team in NBA history to have one player with 50 points and another with at least 15 points, 15 rebounds and 15 assists in the same game.

It was reminiscent of Game 3 of the 2023 NBA Finals when both players had 30-point triple-doubles at Miami to take control of that series. Wednesday night came on the second night of a back-to-back when tipoff was 16 hours after the team landed in Denver after winning in Phoenix.

“Fifty-three from your point guard and 23, 21, 19 from your center. Just outrageous numbers from the best tandem in the NBA,” coach David Adelman said. “They really are the history book of this franchise when it comes to the longevity together, and also the playoffs and all these wars they’ve been through in a basketball sense, it’s just super special.”

Jokic’s career started in 2015-16 a year after being drafted 41st overall, and Murray broke in a year later as the seventh overall pick. They have won 400 games together over the last 10 seasons, including the playoffs, the most in the NBA as teammates.

They reached the postseason two years after first sharing the court and won the franchise’s first NBA title four years later.

Their bond has continued to grow, and Jokic is appreciative of the journey

“How we both started, the path that we had, from nobody to somebody into a championship — and still growing and still performing,” he said.

The two are leading the Nuggets back to the playoffs this year and showing what they can do when both are playing at a high level.

“I feel like our best chemistry is when we’re not (both playing well),” said Murray, who was two points shy of his career high. “Sometimes he’s having a rough day and I’ll pick up the slack, and then there’s days when I’m not doing anything and he takes over. There’s not tug-of-war with the ball; there’s no animosity of who’s shooting it.”

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