Nikola Jokic does something not even he has done before

For the first time in the Nikola Jokic era, the Denver Nuggets have won 10 consecutive games, hitting the double-digit mark of their streak on Wednesday

BY JAKE SHAPIRO

Apr 8, 2026, 9:56 PM

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DENVER — For the first time in the Nikola Jokic era, the Denver Nuggets have won 10 consecutive games, hitting the double-digit mark of their streak on Wednesday with a 136-119 victory over the shorthanded Memphis Grizzlies.

The heavily favored Nuggets battled back and forth with the hot-shooting youngsters but took the lead and pulled away in the third. That has been the story across their recent heater. And it’s this streak that’s shot the Nuggets up to third in the West and it’s nearly secured that spot with Wednesday’s win.

The Nuggets shot 58.9% from the field as a team and assisted on 31 of their 53 made baskets, as the team continued to thrive on offense. But it wasn’t always pretty. Memphis led 72-68 at halftime after a sloppy second quarter in which the Nuggets committed five turnovers and a 25-55 Grizzlies team — missing Ja Morant and roughly half its roster — fired away from deep with zero fear. Memphis launched 50 three-pointers on the night and knocked down 19 of them, with Cedric Coward leading the way with 27 points and Lucas Williamson adding 16.

Then the third quarter happened. Denver outscored Memphis 39-22 in the period, shooting 61.5% from the field while holding the Grizzlies to 37.5% and just 2-of-12 from deep. The run was so thorough that Jokic, Aaron Gordon and Christian Braun all sat the entire fourth quarter.

“We were much better defensively with our energy, activity, defensive rebounding, and that leads to opportunity,” David Adelman said. “It was a good second half for us, after a very zombie-like first half.”

Jokic was his typical, ruthlessly efficient self: 14 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists on 5-of-8 shooting in 31 minutes for another triple-double just after halftime — and he was a game-best plus-24. He didn’t need to force the issue, he just orchestrated for the rest of the roster.

And play beautifully they did. Jamal Murray led all scorers with 26 points on 8-of-17 shooting, going 5-of-10 from deep and a perfect 5-for-5 from the line while adding seven rebounds and five assists. Cameron Johnson was outstanding with 18 points on a hyper-efficient 8-of-12 from the floor.

Tim Hardaway Jr. provided 13 points, including three triples, and was a huge part of the third-quarter explosion — he poured in 10 of his points in the period, hitting a pair of threes during the run that blew it open. Bruce Brown brought his usual connective-tissue energy with 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting, seven rebounds, two steals and a block. Christian Braun added 14 on 7-of-10 from the field and finished a plus-21.

Hardaway now holds the second-most single-season threes made by a Nugget, trailing just Murray this year. Adelman has been adamant all year about THJ’s impact.

“His green light is as bright as it can be,” Adelman said. “The conversation about Tim should be about our season, our team, and the things we went through, and his impact on keeping our season alive. We’re the three seed in the West, and he’s one of the main reasons why we even had a chance to compete for that spot.”

Jonas Valanciunas was perfect from the field, going 6-for-6 for 14 points with two blocks, providing the exclamation points in the fourth with a pair of dunks — including a running dunk off a Brown steal that pushed the lead to 21. Denver scored 66 points in the paint and generated 19 fast-break points, suffocating Memphis on both ends of the floor once the switch flipped after halftime.

We’re streaking!

Now at 10, the Nuggets have a chance to tie the second-longest win streak in franchise history at 12, achieved back in 1982. The club’s longest of 15 was hit in 2013. The Nuggets had gotten to nine consecutive wins three times in the Jokic era, but never hit double digits. If Denver keeps the streak alive through Game 82, they’ll also end with 54 wins, which is one victory more than their title year and would be tied for the third-best campaign in the franchise’s NBA history.

“It means something to me, because I’ve been here for all this,” Adelman said. “We’ve won so much over the years that you would expect that we get to a double-digit win streak. I think it speaks to the consistency over the years, of us always bouncing back after a loss. But I do think it says a lot about the group staying with it during this period of time. Ten in a row is a real deal. It’s a real thing. And for us, shocking that we never did it, but cool that we did.”

Triple-double history watch

Jokic tied his career high of 34 triple-doubles in a season with the effort against Memphis. He’s now both two triple-doubles shy of 200 in his regular-season career and two triple-doubles away from Russell Westbrook’s all-time record of 221, when counting the postseason.

Seeking the No. 3 seed

The win moves Denver to 52-28, sitting a game and a half above the Lakers and Rockets in the race for the Western Conference’s No. 3 seed with two games remaining in the regular season for the Nuggets and three for each of Houston and Los Angeles.

The math had been steep for the three, but a crushing 43-point Lakers loss to the Thunder — combined with injuries to Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves that will sideline both for the remainder of the regular season — has blown the door wide open for the on-fire Nuggets.

Denver’s magic number for the seed is two. If the Nuggets win both remaining games — or get some help from the teams below — they will lock it up.

There’s also this: the Nuggets win last Saturday against the Spurs significantly increased the odds that their final two opponents — OKC and San Antonio — won’t be playing for much by the time Denver faces them. Victor Wembanyama also hurt his ribs in the Spurs’ win on Monday. The Thunder can and are likely to lock up the top spot on Wednesday.

What’s next for the Nuggets?

It’s unlikely Peyton Watson plays in the Nuggets’ final games of the season, but it’s worth watching his status — and Spencer Jones’ — as Denver hits the final stretch. Each missed Wednesday’s game again. The Nuggets are back home for the final time of the regular season on Friday, hosting the Thunder in a game that may not be of consequence to OKC by the time it tips.

The season ends in San Antonio on Sunday, again in a game that may not matter to the No. 2-seeded Spurs. In fact, the only thing that may matter to the Spurs at this point is making sure Wembanyama plays 20 minutes in a game so he can fit the technicality of being awards eligible.

“Don’t look at the totality of the wins and losses when you know you’re a good team, and just ask yourself, are we trending the right way?” Adelman said. “I think we were, and I think that’s continued into this winning streak. Hopefully there’s a continuation as we end the season and go into the tournament.”