Michael Malone ‘blessed to have a guy like Nikola’ as Jokic notches 100th career triple-double against Houston Rockets | NBA News

The Denver Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic notched his 100th career triple-double during Tuesday night’s 133-112 win over the Houston Rockets. After the game, head coach Michael Malone piled on the praise.

“He is a unique person who doesn’t want any of the attention or credit,” Malone said. “He just wants to go about his business and help this team win its first championship.”

“I think all of us in Denver – I challenge myself to do this – should never take him for granted, never take his greatness for granted. Because I grew up in this business… and things can change quickly so I make sure I appreciate everything he does.

“And for him to be mentioned with all these historical accomplishments just reminds you that we are so blessed to have a guy like Nikola, who is as talented as he is, who accomplishes all these things on the court, but the most important and impressive thing about Nikola is with that he’s so humble.”

Jokic had 14 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists for his NBA-leading 24th triple-double this season and his 15th in the last 20 games as the Nuggets beat the Houston Rockets 133-112 on Tuesday night.

So far, on each of these occasions, Malone’s team have won, which is a staggering record to hold. It’s become a personal joke within the franchise ranks.

Jokic played down the achievement, simply calling it “nice” and crediting his team-mates.

But, while it has been a collective effort from the Nuggets core to maintain positioning at the summit of the Western Conference, the Serb is their talisman. He rightfully leads the MVP discussions and is on track to become the fourth player to win it three years in a row.

Even still, there wasn’t any hint of a celebration in the locker room after his big night. He sat alone with an ice pack on his back as he poured popcorn from a small box directly into his mouth.

“I appreciate how we played,” he said. “That’s what I appreciate. But all the – let’s say – achievements, awards, contracts or whatever, it’s just – I don’t want to say coming naturally – but you don’t chase it. It’s really nice. I think it’s going to be the best when you finish (your) career and just look behind you and see what you did.”

He joins Russell Westbrook (198), Oscar Robertson (181), Magic Johnson (138), Jason Kidd, (107) and LeBron James (106) as the only players to have accomplished the feat.

The hapless Rockets were unfortunate to be on the wrong side of it, a game after allowing Damian Lillard to score a career-high 71 points in a loss to the Trail Blazers on Sunday.