Denver Nuggets Center Nikola Jokic Perfect in Win Over Los Angeles Lakers

The Denver Nuggets extended their record to a Western Conference-best 27-13 with a 122-109 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday, and center Nikola Jokic continued his compelling case for MVP. The four-time All Star had the rare perfect game, hitting all five of his field goal attempts and all three of his three throws.

The MVP notched his 8️⃣7️⃣ triple-double tonight on only 5 shots 🤫

14 PTS (100 FG%)/ 11 REB / 16 AST (Season High)

🗳 https://t.co/lBETGuC2d0 pic.twitter.com/eRe4m824VJ
— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) January 10, 2023

Jokic only scored 14 points on the day, but he stuffed the stat sheet in other ways, totalling 11 rebounds, 16 assists, one steal, and one block. Point guard Jamal Murray took advantage of the increased scoring burden, totalling 34 points on 29 shots.

With last night's effort, Jokic lifted his per-game season numbers to 25.0 points, 10.8 rebounds, and 9.7 assists while hitting a career-best 61.6% of his field goal attempts. For the advanced stat heads out there, he leads the league in Player Efficiency Rating (31.9), Win Share per 48 minutes (.313), and Box Plus Minus (12.4). At this rate, it could be difficult to deny him a third MVP.

The Denver Nuggets host the 20-21 Phoenix Suns on Sunday.