Nikola Jokic tied the NBA record with crazy numbers against the hapless Pelicans

Wednesday night, Denver Nuggets they didn’t even go full throttle. and yet, the mighty Nuggets destroyed a rather inept New Orleans Pelicans team, 122-88, as the Pelicans continue to go through an identity crisis. New Orleans inexplicably decided to start DeAndre Jordan at center in 2025 even though they have Yves Mission and Derrick Quinn available, and Nikola Jokic definitely made them pay for that decision.

Jokic played just 28 minutes in their 34-point loss to the Pelicans, and yet he was there, filling the stat line as usual. He finished with another triple-double (21 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists), his fourth in four games to start the year. In doing so, he tied the record for the number of triple-doubles to start a season (four), joining Oscar Robertson (1961-62 season) and Russell Westbrook (2020-21 campaign). in that exclusive clubaccording to ESPN.

This is it the deepest team the Nuggets have put together around Jokicand it clearly shows how he no longer has to fill the scoring column like he did in previous years. He averaged just 20 points per game to start the year, which would be his lowest since the 2019-20 season. He lets his teammates do the cooking, which is what he does best anyway.

13 different players scored for the Nuggets in their demolition of the Pelicans, with only Hunter Tyson going scoreless among those who played. The Pelicans looked like a high school team compared to the well-oiled machine of the Nuggets, and it’s Jokic who continues to fuel their humming engine.

Jokic will look to break the record for consecutive triple-doubles to start the season when the Nuggets return to action on Friday night in the NBA Finals against the Portland Trail Blazers.

The Nuggets look to start a strong NBA Cup run against the Trail Blazers

In the past two seasons, the Nuggets hardly cared about the NBA Cup. Both years they finished with a 2-2 record in the group stage, which was not enough to reach the knockout stage.

It is not entirely clear whether he will care more about the NBA Cup this year. But they have a deeper squad that should make them more dangerous in this tournament. Alas, they are once again part of one of the toughest groups in the competition.

After that The Nuggets begin their journey to the 2025 NBA Cup against the Blazers, they will have to overcome the Golden State Warriors (the team that beat them in the first game of the new campaign), the Houston Rockets (last year’s NBA Cup semi-finalists) and the San Antonio Spurs (4-0 in the year Victor Wembanyama appeared).