The most compelling possible 1-on-1 matchup to decide an NBA game transpired on the third night of 2025. Nikola Jokic holding the basketball at the free-throw line. Victor Wembanyama defended the basket and protected a one-point lead. Nine years of age separated the generational centers as Jokic tried to get to his patented shot, the Sombor Shuffle, on Friday night in Denver. But here’s how fast Wembanyama is catching up to arguably the world’s best player: When they rematched 24 hours later in San Antonio, they were only eight years apart. The younger man won the battle at Ball Arena, surviving a matchup that puts hair on his chest every time. A few hours later, he turned 21. “Multiple-time MVP. Soon to be MVP again,” Wembanyama said, describing Jokic. “Can’t ask for a better way to get better.” The three-time league MVP returned the compliment by calling Wembanyama “one that’s going to be remembered forever.” The final play will likely appear on Wembanyama’s highlight reel for his Defensive Player of the Year candidacy. Jamal Murray inbounded the ball to Jokic with 17 seconds remaining and played chase, receiving a handoff to initiate a two-man game that “usually works good” in clutch situations, as Jokic highlighted. Murray, who blamed himself for the 113-110 loss after a 6-for-17 shooting night, dribbled to the left elbow then passed to Jokic at the nail. The point guard backed off to the perimeter as Jokic sized up Wembanyama and prepared to improvise. “Maybe I should just shoot it right away,” Jokic said in hindsight. “Then I tried to get into contact, and Champagnie was kind of creeping in. I couldn’t get into contact with Wemby.” The double-team was a hindrance. Jokic was afraid Champagnie would poke the ball away if he continued to back down Wembanyama. “I tried to shoot the fadeaway, but he already gathered, so I (thought) he would block it,” Jokic continued. “So maybe I should actually let him block it, and hopefully the ball was going to be out of bounds (off San Antonio).” Instead, he tried to audible as he was going into his shot — one of the most untouchable shots in the sport. The Sombor Shuffle, nicknamed after his hometown in Serbia, is so special in part because Jokic seems to reserve it for only the most essential situations. In the quarterfinals of the Olympics last summer, he went to it during the last minute of overtime, completing a 24-point comeback against Australia to send Serbia to the medal round. It’s a one-legged fadeaway, catapulted out of a bizarre but impenetrable release point behind the 6-foot-11 center’s head. Jokic rarely ever passes out of that release point, because he rarely needs to. Wembanyama is the exception. Feeling the Frenchman’s wingspan, Jokic tried to slingshot a cross-court pass to Michael Porter Jr. on the left wing. It never stood a chance. Devin Vassell intercepted it and returned it for a dunk. “It was a bad turnover,” Jokic said. Only his second of the game. The Sombor Shuffle had encountered the Le Chesnay Lean. “I got a little piece of it,” Wembanyama said. “It’s not something that’s easy to do in a full game, contesting this specific shot during a full game. Because there’s lots of counters (Jokic uses). But in a position like this, it was good defense.” “Of course he can do it,” Jokic said, “because he’s a special player.” The Nuggets could have used a timeout to advance the ball with 1.7 seconds remaining, but the Spurs were disorganized after the dunk. Murray hurried to the ball and fired a long inbound pass to Porter, who got up a fairly clean 3-point look at the buzzer. It was wide right. Jokic, in retrospect, believed it was a mistake for neither Michael Malone nor the players to call one. Porter reasoned that “when a team’s up three nowadays, teams are just zoning up the 3-point line, and they’re gonna foul as soon as you get the ball in, so sometimes it’s better to not call the timeout.” “That hasn’t been us. Usually were really good in terms of closing games and finishing games, and we just weren’t able to do it tonight,” Malone said. Denver’s spacing around Jokic was especially costly in allowing San Antonio to generate the game-winning steal. After he caught the ball at the foul line, the Nuggets emptied out the strong side, giving him half the floor to operate. Champagnie’s double-team naturally had to leave someone relatively open on the weak-side perimeter, and the Spurs were content letting it be Russell Westbrook, a 32% outside shooter this season. Often when Jokic posts up, Denver keeps a shooter on the strong-side wing so that he has an escape valve one pass away. This time, his only choice other than to try his luck with the Sombor Shuffle against Wembanyama was to heave the desperate cross-court pass toward Porter. Jokic didn’t take issue with his teammates’ spacing “because it was not a post-up; it was a nail play, nail isolation,” he said. “And I kind of waited, and then I went to the post. Yeah, so it was different (spacing). Definitely, I could do better, at least just to take a shot.” “I think getting guys cleared out is good,” Porter said. “And then just spacing the right way on the back side. … It happened kind of fast, because we all thought he was gonna try to go score.” Jokic finished with 41 points and 18 rebounds, but on 15-of-36 shooting. Wembanyama, fittingly playing his 100th career game, led the Spurs with a more efficient 35 points and 18 boards. He played most of the fourth quarter with five fouls, knocking down pivotal pull-up and side-step 3-pointers that would have seemed unfathomable for a 7-foot-4 center to attempt two years ago. Related Articles Denver Nuggets | Victor Wembanyama scores 35 as Spurs survive Nikola Jokic, Nuggets to start back-to-back Denver Nuggets | Nuggets Journal: NBA should embrace authentic stars like Anthony Edwards, not fine them Denver Nuggets | Nuggets Podcast: Jamal Murray puts annual slow start to rest, Russell Westbrook fits in and Nikola Jokic chases history Denver Nuggets | Why Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. admires Trae Young, “one of my best friends” Denver Nuggets | Nikola Jokic, Nuggets pull away from Hawks in third quarter to welcome new year “When I watch (the Spurs), it kind of reminds me of how we use Nikola,” Malone said before Friday’s game. “They put him in every conceivable action. He’s gonna set a ball screen. He’s gonna handle on a ball screen. He’s gonna set a pin-down. He’s gonna receive a pin-down. He’s gonna get an elbow iso.” The moment Wembanyama was drafted first overall by San Antonio in 2023, contenders such as Denver were instantly on the clock to maximize their championship windows. The Spurs (18-16) are already overachieving in his second season while he averages 26 points and four blocks. His 100th game was also a reminder that Jokic’s “best in the world” window is finite — even if he’s still getting MVP endorsements from Wembanyama himself. “Jokic is one of the guys who, despite getting double-teamed every game, makes his teammates better,” the 20-year-old (at the time) said. “And that’s 100% what I want to be.”