Nikola Jokic of the Nuggets joins a select group of players with a historic start to the 2023-24 season.

The Denver Nuggets have resumed up right where they left off last season after winning the NBA Championship in 2022-23. Nikola Jokic, the Nuggets’ two-time MVP and reigning NBA Finals MVP, has had a historic start to the 2023-24 season, recording nine straight games with at least 20 points and 10 rebounds to begin the season.

As a result of this streak, Jokic has joined an exclusive club. According to ESPN Stats & Info on X (formerly known as Twitter), Kevin Garnett and Karl Malone are the only other players to accomplish this feat since the NBA-ABA merger in 1976-77.

 

Jamal Murray, Jokic’s Nuggets teammate, has been out with a hamstring ailment that will keep him out for at least three weeks. With that in mind, Jokic has had to shoulder a heavier workload than normal, and it showed in the Golden State Warriors’ victory last night. Jokic finished with 35 points on 14 of 25 shooting, 13 rebounds, five assists, three steals, and a block.

The huge performance extended Jokic’s streak of consecutive 20-point, 10-rebound games to nine, while also propelling the Nuggets to an NBA-best 8-1 record through the first three weeks of the season.

Jokic and the Nuggets are sending a message to the rest of the league that if they want to steal the title and be crowned NBA champions in 2023-24, they must take it from them.