Nuggets star Nikola Jokic entered Friday’s game averaging 29.8 points, 12.8 rebounds and 10.2 assists per game.

DENVER (AP) — Nikola Jokić will average a triple-double for the season, making the Denver star the third player in NBA history to pull off such a feat.

It became statistically certain on Friday night when Jokić got his fourth assist of Denver’s game against the Memphis Grizzlies. That assist was his 700th of the season — so, even if he doesn’t get another before Sunday’s end of the regular season, which would be his 70th game, he is assured of averaging no worse than 10.0 assists.

The other players to average a triple-double for a full season: Russell Westbrook, Jokić’s current Denver teammate, and Basketball Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson.

Westbrook did it four times — 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19 for Oklahoma City, as well as in 2020-21 for Washington — and Robertson did it in the 1961-62 season for Cincinnati.

The assist that clinched it for Jokić came on a score by Christian Braun with about 52 seconds left in the first half. It was not originally credited; the boxscore was updated at halftime.

Jokić — the Serbian star who has won three of the last four Kia NBA MVP awards and is a top candidate for that honor again this season along with Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander — entered Friday with 33 triple-doubles this season, which is more than any other three players in the league combined.

No other NBA player else entered Friday with more than 10 this season.