Nikola Jokić turned Denver’s Christmas night into his personal showcase, and he did it in a way the NBA record book simply didn’t have a slot for.
In a 142–138 overtime win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Christmas Day, Jokić piled up 56 points, 16 rebounds and 15 assists, delivering the first 55-15-15 game in league history and authoring one of the most overwhelming single-game stat lines the sport has ever produced.
NIKOLA JOKIĆ WITH VIDEO GAME STATS ON CHRISTMAS DAY 🤯
🃏 56 PTS
🃏 16 REB
🃏 15 AST
🃏 2 BLK
🃏 4 3PMTHE FIRST 55/15/15 GAME IN NBA HISTORY 🚨 pic.twitter.com/8LPXlFWO6V
— NBA (@NBA) December 26, 2025
It wasn’t just volume. It was context. Minnesota erased a 15-point deficit late in regulation, then jumped out to a 9–0 burst to open overtime, effectively forcing Denver into “Jokić or bust” mode. And for a five-minute stretch, he was everything: scorer, organizer, bailout option, and closer. Jokić finished 22-for-23 at the line, and in the last 28 seconds of overtime he personally salted the game away with eight free throws.
That closing detail matters because this wasn’t a runaway where numbers inflated in garbage time. It was the opposite: a game that kept tightening until only an all-time great could pry it open again. Postgame on ABC, Jokić kept it characteristically blunt:
“It was a crazy game, and it’s a little bit late, so it’s nice to finish off with a victory.”
A big part of why the night felt like a fever dream is that Minnesota came to play the villain in the final minutes. Anthony Edwards detonated late, drilling a twisting three with 1.1 seconds left to force overtime, part of a scoring surge that turned Ball Arena into a pressure cooker.
Even before the opening tip, Edwards essentially promised a show, telling ESPN:
“I’m gonna have 30 points for sure. I might have 40. But it’s gonna be a night.”
He delivered the points, 44 in total, but his night ended early when he was ejected after two technical fouls late in overtime.
Denver needed every ounce of Jokić’s dominance because it wasn’t a clean, full-strength operation. The Nuggets were without multiple starters, including Cameron Johnson (injury), and leaned on a patchwork rotation that required Jokić to do more than just score.
Jamal Murray’s 35 points and 10 assists were essential, including a late overtime three that gave Denver breathing room, but the shape of the game kept circling back to the same reality: whenever Denver’s spacing tightened or Minnesota’s size swallowed a driving lane, the possession ended up in Jokić’s hands with a decision to make.
And that’s the most terrifying part for opponents: the 56 is loud, but the 15 assists are the real flex. Minnesota threw bodies at him, switched bigs onto him, tried to show help early, and still couldn’t prevent him from creating efficient looks on demand, either for himself with touch finishes and step-into threes, or for teammates with those one-beat, off-balance deliveries that feel less like passing than like editing the defense out of the frame.
By the end, the performance landed in several historical buckets at once. It was the third-highest scoring total ever on Christmas Day, behind Bernard King’s 60 (1984) and Wilt Chamberlain’s 59 (1961).
And beyond Christmas lore, the stat line itself functioned like a new kind of proof-of-concept: yes, a player can score like an apex guard, rebound like a traditional center, and still run the offense like a point guard, all in the same night, with the game on the line, against a playoff-level opponent.
A Christmas game is built to be theater. Most of them are remembered for a shot, a fight, a meme, a jersey. This one will be remembered for something rarer: a superstar reaching a level so absurd it required new wording to describe it. Jokić didn’t just have a great Christmas game. He had the kind of night that makes “great” feel like understatement, and makes everyone else in the building look like they’re playing the sport at a slightly lower resolution.
