A historic night for Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokić also boosted his odds in the 2024-25 NBA MVP race.
Jokić posted a 30-20-20 game during a 149-141 overtime win over the Phoenix Suns on Friday night. It’s a stat line that’s never happened in NBA history and comes from a player who was questionable with an ankle injury entering the night.
Jokić’s performance gave him a big jump in the odds for MVP, moving him up to +210 behind Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder, who is currently -285 via BetMGM.
Jokić opened the season at +450 for the award and last week had moved to +350. Earlier this week, he was at +550, but his 30-20-20 performance will have people believing he can put up a strong final month of the season to claim his fourth MVP.
Gilgeous-Alexander was -1000 for MVP on the same day Jokić dropped to +550. The NBA scoring leader (32.8 points per game) is now -285 after Jokić’s big move.
Jokić not only posted a new kind of triple-double, he also broke Wilt Chamberlain’s record for most assists by a center, which previously sat at 21. The overall record is held by Scott Skiles with 30, set in 1990.
