In big National Basketball Association (NBA) games, big players often step up to help their team clinch victory and then almost immediately move on, paying little significance to the result.
That was what Nikola Jokic was like on March 7, after he bagged his 20th triple-double of the season as the Denver Nuggets held off the Boston Celtics 115-109 in their heavyweight NBA showdown.
The eagerly anticipated clash between the reigning NBA champions and Eastern Conference-leading Celtics lived up to the billing in a hard-fought duel in Denver.
Denver talisman Jokic led the Nuggets with 32 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists while Jamal Murray finished with 19 points and Aaron Gordon 16.
The win gave Denver a clean sweep over Boston in their meetings this season. The Celtics, beaten by the Cleveland Cavaliers on March 5, suffered back-to-back losses for the first time since early November.
But Jokic brushed off suggestions that the victory could be a preview of the NBA Finals.
"We're a long way from the Finals, my friend," the Serb said in an on-court interview.
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