Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic made history vs. the Washington Wizards on Sunday night.

Nikola Jokic scored 42 points on 15-of-20 shooting and pulled down 12 rebounds, and the visiting Denver Nuggets beat the struggling Washington Wizards 113-104 on Sunday night.

Jokic, who had 8 assists, is shooting 74.6 percent from the field in the last 12 games, leading Denver to eight wins in that span.

With his 93rd career game tallying at least 30 points and 10 rebounds, Jokic passed NBA legend Michael Jordan for the 26th most such games in NBA history.

Currently averaging right around 26 PPG and 12 RPG, Jokic will continue to ascend up this list, as 30 points and 10 rebounds is just another day at the office for him. There are so many statistical records that Jokic has broken over the last few seasons, and there are several more that he will break in the future.

While Jokic is not concerned with individual production, his ability to stuff the stat sheet has a direct impact on his team’s success. Last season’s playoff run was historic for Jokic, as he became the first player in NBA history to lead a playoff run in total points, rebounds, and assists. This of course resulted in a championship for the Nuggets, which was their first in franchise history.

Looking to repeat as champions this season, Denver is on the short list of favorites to win it all. Jokic is of course the biggest reason for that, but Denver has done well to put the right pieces around him. The Nuggets are a problem for the entire NBA, and it starts with their best player.

Michael Porter Jr. and Jamal Murray scored 19 points apiece, Aaron Gordon contributed 11 points and 10 rebounds and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope finished with 10 points for the Nuggets.

Tyus Jones had 15 points and 13 assists, Kyle Kuzma scored 17, Daniel Gafford also scored 15 points and Landry Shamet and Marvin Bagley III added 14 points off the bench for Washington.

Denver led by nine after the first quarter but the Wizards rallied to tie it at 37-all early in the second. The Nuggets led 49-48 with 4:30 left in the period before pulling away.

Gordon had a dunk and a layup, Jokic scored and fed Porter for a dunk and Murray hit a 20-footer in a 13-1 run. Washington cut it to 10 at the half on Bilal Coulibaly’s corner 3-pointer at the horn.

Denver stretched the lead to 70-54 on Porter’s 3-pointer early in the third but the Wizards hung tough. Gafford scored on a putback, and Kuzma split a pair of free throws before scoring on three straight possessions to cut the deficit to 72-63.

Following a Nuggets timeout, Gordon converted a three-point play and Jokic fed Murray for a basket to kickstart another run. Jokic took over after that, scoring 10 straight Denver points to establish an 89-73 lead.

Shamet ended the quarter by making five free throws to make it 89-78 heading into the fourth.

The Wizards got within nine points twice on Corey Kispert’s reverse layup and two free throws. But Murray hit two foul shots and a layup off a steal to give the Nuggets a 103-90 lead with 5:09 left.

Jones hit a floating jumper to make it an 11-point game but Porter and Caldwell-Pope hit back-to-back 3-pointers to put Denver up 109-92, safely ahead for the rest of the way.

Following Sunday’s showdown with the Wizards, the Nuggets will travel to Indiana to face off against the Pacers on Tuesday.

Jokic was the 41st pick in the 2014 NBA Draft and is in his ninth season in the league (all with Denver).

He is coming off a year where he led the franchise to the first seed in the Western Conference and the 2023 NBA Championship over the Miami Heat.

The future Hall of Famer has career averages of 20.6 points, 10.6 rebounds, 6.8 assists and 1.2 steals per contest while shooting 55.5% from the field.