Another day, another impactful performance for Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokić. 

It’s practically routine at this point for the Nuggets, having their star player in Jokić dominate more than one aspect of a game. 

In last night’s 130-112 victory over the Phoenix Suns, the three-time MVP notched a double-double with 26 points and 10 assists. He missed just one shot across the entire evening, shooting a perfect 7-for-7 from the field, a perfect 2-for-2 from 3-point range and 10-for-11 from the free throw line. 

“It was good to see [Jokić] get to the free throw line, which hasn’t been a consistent theme,” Nuggets head coach David Adelman said during the postgame press conference on Nov. 29. “And I’ll tell you, the other thing on Nikola, 10 assists, but the way [the Suns] guarded him, fronting him, bringing a secondary defender over, sometimes a third defender over, that leads to wide open shots. And for us to make 22 3’s, there’s going to be nights we have to do that.”

Adelman continued to talk about how the way in which teams defend Jokić leads to easy baskets for other players, and how the Nuggets are able to adapt to the defensive schemes of their opponents. 

“There’s going to be nights where you say ‘get [Jokić] the ball,’ but if three people are guarding him, that’s tough,” Adelman added. “But somebody else is wide open. And I thought we did a good job tonight moving it and the 36 assists obviously says that. So sometimes you have to take advantage of what the defensive coverages are. We’ll see a lot of that. And it was nice to have some shooting lineups out there. Guys got hot.” 

Denver shot 22-for-38 from 3-point range against Phoenix, and six players, including Jokić, scored in double figures. Jamal Murray finished with 24 points, Tim Hardaway Jr. had 23, Spencer Jones had 16, Cameron Johnson had 15 and Peyton Watson had 11. 

This was a 'get-right' win for the Nuggets following a 139-136 loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Nov. 28. 

After the team’s winning streak was erased by the Chicago Bulls on Nov. 17, Denver produced a 3-3 record, which strayed from the frequent victories they saw to open up the 2025-26 campaign. 

Now, after a win against Phoenix, the Nuggets have a chance to go back to stringing multiple wins together, especially with their next two games coming against teams with a record below .500 in the Dallas Mavericks (6-15) and the Indiana Pacers (4-16).