How Nikola Jokic and Tyrese Haliburton each made rare NBA history 3 times in 6 days

In the current pantheon of NBA superstars, it’s hard to imagine anyone matching the incredible offensive efficiency of Nikola Jokic and Tyrese Haliburton. The Denver Nuggets center and Indiana Pacers point guard are machines who rarely make mistakes while creating offense for their teammates.

Judging by what they’ve both done over the last week or so, they’re probably going to be entrenched in the conversation for the most efficient offensive players ever.

On Monday, during the Pacers’ 122-112 win over the Boston Celtics in the NBA’s in-season tournament, Haliburton dropped a sublime 26-point, 10-rebound, 13-assist stat line while committing zero turnovers. He effectively had a perfect offensive game without costing his team. It’s wild to see what Haliburton is capable of in print:

Halburton's
26 / 10 / 13
has been done before by hundreds of players

But the 0 turnovers make it special – it has only occured 7 times before in NBA history pic.twitter.com/FSvZEGjgjj

— Jeremias Engelmann (@JerryEngelmann) December 5, 2023

Now, tons of players have dropped 25-plus points and double-digit assists before. That’s great, but it’s not necessarily rare. Superstars do it all the time. It’s the zero turnovers here that distinguish this fantastic line because it’s only been done eight times in NBA history. And … Jokic did it for the Nuggets twice in three days before Haliburton’s in-season tourney gem.

Oh my goodness:

30-point triple-doubles with zero turnovers THIS WEEK:
Nikola Jokic: 2

30-point triple-doubles with zero turnovers THIS CENTURY:
every other player in the NBA combined:
0

— Tommy Beer (@TommyBeer) December 3, 2023

How good and efficient are Jokic and Haliburton? They dropped an individual clean box score that almost never happens three times in a matter of days. I’d say we should be shocked, but that’s just par for the course for franchise players like them.

They’ll both probably do it again soon. Ho-hum.