Nikola JokićAAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post

DENVER — We are living through the NBA’s Nikola Jokić era.

If that wasn’t clear already, it certainly is after the Denver Nuggets’ last three games against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

After dropping two at home to open the series, Jokić and his Nuggets have regained control with three straight victories (including two on the road). And in Wednesday’s 112-97 win, Jokić brought a feeling of inevitability we’ve seen from previous era headliners.

On the night he received his third MVP award in the last four years, Jokić had 40 points, 13 assists, seven rebounds, two steals, one block and no turnovers. He was a game-high plus-21 in the 15-point win and shot 15-of-22 from the field.

“I’m not even entirely sure what I just watched,” Aaron Gordon said after the win.

Well, AG, that may be because we’ve literally never seen a performance like that before.

According to OptaSTATS, Jokić “is the first NBA player to score or assist on 70+ points in a playoff game without committing a turnover (since turnovers were first tracked in 1977-78).”

In a career that’s increasingly full of absurd individual performances, this one feels unique.

Beyond the numbers, Jokić did much of tonight’s damage against Rudy Gobert, who received his fourth Defensive Player of the Year award just last week.

His footwork in the post was immaculate. Pivots, fakes, up-and-unders, floaters, a high-arching righty hook off the top of the glass while Gobert was blanketing him. The entire repertoire was on display.

And every time Jokić found himself one-on-one with one of the best defenders of this generation, he looked intent on attacking.

Actually, that probably undersells it. On some possessions, it almost looked like he wanted to embarrass the DPOY. He often did.

But despite the online world’s penchant for digitally dunking on Gobert, this performance was far more about Jokić than the Stifle Tower he repeatedly cleared.

Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch called it an “MVP, best-player-in-the-world performance.”

And it certainly was, but Gobert is far from the first foe Jokić has vanquished in the playoffs.

Last postseason:

He averaged 26.2 points, 12.4 rebounds and 9.0 assists against Gobert in the first round.

He outdueled Kevin Durant and Devin Booker with 34.5 points, 13.2 rebounds and 10.3 assists in the second round.

He beat self-proclaimed “best defensive player in the league” Anthony Davis with 27.8 points, 14.5 rebounds, 11.8 assists, 2.0 threes, 1.3 blocks and 1.3 steals in the conference finals.

And he averaged 30.2 points, 14.0 rebounds and 7.2 assists against Bam Adebayo in the NBA Finals.

That’s three of the game’s best defensive bigs in one playoff run, with a domination of future Hall of Famer KD thrown in for good measure.

In some alternate universe, perhaps one in which Jokić gave up basketball for horse racing for good, Gobert might have a ring. KD or AD and LeBron James might have one more. The Miami Heat might’ve actually been able to cap off their Cinderella run from the play-in tournament to the Finals with a championship.

But in this timeline, the one in which Jokić stuck with basketball, was eventually drafted in the second round by the Nuggets and developed into one of the greatest players of all time, all of the above is off the table (at least for now).

In a postseason in which Anthony Edwards has drawn unironic comparisons to Michael Jordan, it may be Jokić whose dominance looks a bit more like the GOAT’s.

Jordan similarly impacted the legacies of his contemporaries. Outside Jordan’s era, Charles Barkley, Reggie Miller and Patrick Ewing might’ve won championships.

This series between the Nuggets and T-Wolves isn’t over, but it’s starting to feel like Gobert could be in for a similar fate.

He’s an all-time great, particularly on the defensive end, but he just happens to play at the same time as Jokić, who has owned this decade in a way few have seized any decade in league history.

Again, Minnesota could still win back-to-back games and advance. Denver certainly can’t look past the Oklahoma City Thunder or Dallas Mavericks. Either would be a worthy opponent in the conference finals. And of course, the statistical juggernaut Boston Celtics will likely be waiting in the NBA Finals.

The path between this point and a second straight championship is long, bumpy and might even have another detour or two like the first two games of this second-round series against Minnesota.

But this series was billed by many as the “real” Finals for a reason. The Timberwolves looked like a legitimate title threat during their sweep of the Phoenix Suns and the first two games against Denver.

Their length and athleticism, in concert with their ferocity on the defensive end, made them terrifying.

But this Nuggets team is special. And it’s led by a special, era-headlining player in Jokić. He’s downloaded, processed and then countered everything plenty of previous opponents have thrown at him.

These three wins in a row suggest the same thing is happening with Minnesota.

And if Denver beats the Wolves and Jokić solves whatever riddles the two following rounds throw at him, prepare yourself for some lofty conversations on how his era stacks up against the likes of the ones LeBron and MJ dominated.