Al Horford is in his age-39 season, but he's still contributing to winning at a high level for the Golden State Warriors. In their game against the Denver Nuggets on Sunday afternoon, Horford posted his best game of the season, all while drawing the defensive assignment on Nikola Jokic for most of his possessions on the other end.

Though Jokic got his gaudy stat line — 35 points, 20 rebounds, 12 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocks is a positively alien collection of stats — he had just three points in the fourth quarter as Horford managed to keep up and contribute on both ends of the floor for the Warriors to take home the win, 128-117.

Though the Warriors got the victory, Horford still gave an ironic laugh when he was asked what his approach was to defending Jokic and how he evaluates the Serbian big man as a player.

"Unbelievable. I mean, 35 points and all the assists in the world. It's difficult because early in the game, we looked up and there was 6 minutes in the first quarter and he already had like 7 assists. It's just his ability to read the game, it's like you have a coach out there when he's playing. He just reads the game so easily and he's making the right play every time, and then he's bigger, so he doesn't really get sped up much, he plays at his own pace, and can really score the ball. It really is just trying to make his catches tough, contest his shots, try to be as physical as we can with him, he's really crafty at drawing fouls, so you have to play that game. Ultimately, the whole group has to do a good job with it. When you have a player like that, him, Steph — there's a few players that the whole team has to be engaged because you can't just guard the player one-on-one. They're just too good."

Jokic would potentially be pacing for a fourth MVP if not for his lengthy injury earlier this season, so to see 39-year-old Al Horford managing to lead the Warriors to a win over him and the Nuggets without Steph Curry is incredible.

Jokic can't exactly be stopped by anybody in the NBA, but one reason Horford was seen as a key pickup for the Warriors this offseason was for his ability to play defense, particularly against bigger bodies like Jokic.

In their 19 games against in each other in their careers, Jokic has gotten his numbers, but they aren't quite as elite as one may expect from a three-time MVP against a 30+ year old.

Jokic averages 22 points, 11 rebounds, and 8 assists on 64.1 true shooting percentage and an average plus/minus of +3. Good numbers, to be certain, but it's almost exactly in line with his career numbers — Horford manages to keep Jokic reigned in to his normal self most of the time, instead of the out-of-this-world stats that Jokic is capable of achieving.

This is also now the third game in a row that Horford performed well against Jokic and the Nuggets. In the Warriors' home opener, Horford held Jokic to just 21 points on 42.4% true shooting in the Dubs' overtime win, and dating back to last season, when Horford was on the Celtics, he had 19 points while holding Jokic to just 20 points in a 7-point Celtics win.

Horford and the Warriors will always have their hands full with Jokic every time they match up, as does every other team in the league, but it's promising to see that Horford can hold his own against the future Hall of Fame, especially if the Warriors have to match up with the Nuggets come playoff time.