Nikola Jokic chasing one of the most impressive records in franchise history during Nuggets' stretch run

The two most versatile players in Nuggets franchise history couldn’t have looked much different putting their fingerprints all over basketball games. Fat Lever, a 6-foot-3 guard from Pine Bluff, Arkansas, compensated for his lack of size with quickness and a seemingly endless supply of energy. Nikola Jokic, a 7-foot center from Sombor, Serbia, makes up for his lack of leaping ability and straight-line speed with a Jedi-like ability to make the basketball go where he wants it to.

Lever ran the race like the hair while Jokic goes through it like the tortoise. Despite dissimilar styles, both men share the distinction of being triple-double machines. In 1986-87, Lever set one of the more impressive individual records in franchise history by racking up 16 triple-doubles. More than three decades later, Jokic is threatening to challenge that mark. He has 12 triple-doubles with 20 regular-season games to go.

Lever, who’s filled in a color analyst for Altitude TV and sat courtside Saturday to watch Denver face New Orleans, seems resigned to the fact that Jokic is going to catch even though the math suggests it will be a photo finish.

“If I was a betting man, I bet he breaks it,” Lever said. “And I’m OK with that. I enjoy watching him. I call him one of the non-serious big guys in the league. He takes everything lightly. He does so many things that’s easy going. Everyone loves playing with him because he’s going to make you better. So you can’t help but love what he does.”

Jokic is averaging 7.7 assists this season, the league’s 10th-highest mark and the most in NBA history by any center not named Wilt Chamberlain. He is central to everything Denver does offensively. Guards orbit around him in a loosely defined series of passes, cuts, dribble handoffs and pick and rolls.

“Jokic, if it doesn’t go through him, it’s probably going to be a bad possession,” Lever said. “Whereas if Alex (English), who was our best player, wasn’t on the court or we missed him, it was probably OK. Every time Jokic touches the ball in a half court set, good things are going to happen.”

The Nuggets, who trotted out their preferred starting five of Jamal Murray, Gary Harris, Will Barton, Paul Millsap and Jokic on Saturday for the first time since Oct. 20, raced out to a 19-point lead before coughing it up to a Pelicans team missing Anthony Davis. Foul trouble prevented Jokic from making a run at his 13th triple-double of the season. He only played 22 minutes but still managed to score 20 points, collect nine rebounds and hand out seven assists.

If Jokic can stay out of foul trouble, which has been an issue for him lately, he can make a run at Lever’s single-season record. That the pieces around him are finally healthy make him that much more likely to blow past it. The Murray-Harris-Barton-Millsap-Jokic fivesome has been explosive in the brief stretches its played together. The Nuggets have outscored opponents by 55 points in 69 minutes this season with that lineup on the floor.

Denver’s biggest issues during consecutive losses to Utah and New Orleans were its defense and suddenly shaky bench unit. Isaiah Thomas’ return has forced the reserves to play a style they’re unaccustomed to.

“Probably a little more pick and roll than usual, early in the shot clock, too,” backup center Mason Plumlee said. “I think what makes us good is our movement and our flow and less play calls whether it’s pin downs or stuff off the ball. I know that will be a point of emphasis for me next game as the screener.”

The Nuggets are still in an excellent position to lock up a top-two seed, recent hiccups and all. They have what’s effectively a  4 1/2-game lead (thanks to owning the head-to-head tiebreaker) over the Oklahoma City Thunder, who are third in the West. Denver will try to preserve that cushion as it begins a difficult three-game road trip this week against the Spurs, Lakers and Warriors tonight.

“We have a really tough stretch,” Jokic said. “We need to stay together, stay focused. We need to kind of think about where we want to go.”

Jokic’s focus is always team success. He could care less about individual accomplishments like, say, Denver’s single-season triple-double record. If Jokic doesn’t get it this spring, the odds are he will in the years to come. Jokic turned 24 less a month ago. He’s only in his fourth season and is under contract through 2023.

Jokic already has 24 career triple-doubles. Lever, who unsurprisingly is also Denver’s all-time leader in career triple-doubles with 46, is at peace with the fact that Jokic will likely break that record, too. Lever’s only hope is that Jokic waits a little while to do it.

“I’m OK with that for the career,” Lever said. “But at the end of his career. Not this early.”