Jokic adds to NBA history books

Nikola Jokic sat in front of his locker, calmly scrolling through his phone, seemingly unimpressed that 30 minutes earlier he made NBA history. The three-time NBA MVP had the league’s first 30-20-20 triple-double in the Nuggets’ 149-141 overtime victory over the Suns on Friday night. Jokic had 31 points, 21 rebounds and a career-high 22 assists. “It’s not supposed go that way,” Jokic said. “I was talking to (Aaron Gordon) and he said to me, ‘That was a quiet 30 points.’ I didn’t do anything special, just seemed like everyone was in flow.” Jokic tied his franchise record with his 29th triple-double of the season, and he reached it just 1:20 into the second half with his 10th rebound. He was approaching the triple-double early, finishing the first quarter with 10 points, six assists and six rebounds and had 13, nine and eight at halftime. The 30-year-old from Serbia is averaging a triple-double with 19 games left in the season. His 28.9 points, 12.9 rebounds and 10.6 assists per game all rank in the top three in the NBA. “I can’t describe him, so don’t ask me to,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said.

Bills sign Rousseau to an extension

The Bills on Saturday signed edge rusher Greg Rousseau to a four-year contract extension that’s worth up to $80 million in the team’s latest move to lock up its young core. The Bills announced the signing. Also, long snapper Reid Ferguson is staying in Buffalo after signing a four-year contract before he was eligible to become a free agent next week. The 30-year-old Ferguson is the longest-active tenured player on the Bills roster in having spent his entire eight-year NFL career with the team. The 24-year-old Rousseau was selected by the Bills 30th overall in the 2021 draft out of the University of Miami. He was entering this season playing on the fifth-year option of his rookie contract, and is now under contract through 2029. At 6-foot-6 and 266 pounds, he earned the nickname “Groot” after the “Guardians of the Galaxy” movie character because of Rousseau’s size and long arms in providing him a knack to shed blockers and bat down passes. Rousseau finished last season with a team-leading eight sacks, three coming in the Bills’ season opener, 16 tackles for a loss and forced three fumbles.

Liverpool’s lead in PL grows to 16

Liverpool’s lead in the Premier League has grown to 16 points. Mohamed Salah’s lead in the Golden Boot contest is up to seven goals. Both races are turning into a procession after Salah, pictured, converted two second-half penalties for his 26th and 27th goals of the campaign to clinch a 3-1 win for Liverpool at home to last-placed Southampton on Saturday. It seems a matter of when, not if, Liverpool secures its record-tying 20th English top-flight championship, even if Arsenal — way back in second place — has two games in hand. Liverpool’s players have nine games left but surely won’t need all of them to seal the title. Maybe a more staggering statistic is that Manchester City, the winner of the last four titles, is now 23 points behind Liverpool after a 1-0 loss at third-placed Nottingham Forest. City is in fourth place, at least for overnight, and has a fight on its hands just to finish in the top five, which should be enough to qualify for the Champions League this season. Erling Haaland had a quiet match and is now struggling to be the league’s top scorer for the third straight season. —Associated Press