Nikola Jokic Ended Nuggets-Heat With A Turnover Because He Put The Ball Down To Hug Bam Adebayo And Bam Picked It Up

The NBA gave us a rematch of the 2023 Finals on Wednesday night as the Denver Nuggets traveled to South Beach to play the Miami Heat. It was a low-scoring game, but thanks to a game-high 25 points by Michael Porter Jr., Denver was able to leave Miami with a 100-88 win that moved them into sole possession of first place in the Western Conference.

Nikola Jokic had to deal with getting guarded by Bam Adebayo, and while he still had a nice night, Jokic wasn’t able to put up the sort of gaudy stats that we’re used to seeing out of him. The two-time NBA MVP had 12 points on 5-for-8 shooting with 14 rebounds, six assists, and four turnovers. In fairness, three of those turnovers came over the course of the game, while the fourth came because he was being a nice guy. As the final seconds were ticking down, Jokic put the ball down so he could show Adebayo some love. Once they went their separate ways, Adebayo picked up the basketball.

The catch: He did this before the clock hit zero, which means it went down in the box score as a steal for him and a turnover for Jokic.

This ended up being Adebayo’s only steal of the night, so if you were a bettor who had money on him recording over 0.5 steals against the Nuggets, congratulations on your win.