Nuggets center Nikola Jokic will be reevaluated in four weeks after being diagnosed with a hyperextension of his left knee, the team announced today (Twitter link).
Jokic injured his knee during Monday’s game against Miami. On Tuesday, Đorđe Matić of Meridian Sport, an outlet based in Jokic’s home country of Serbia, reported that the big man had hyperextended his knee but appeared to have avoided a more serious injury. The update from the club confirms as much.
Although the absence projects to be the longest of Jokic’s NBA career, the Nuggets are breathing a sigh of relief, according to Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link), since testing confirmed that the three-time MVP’s knee ligaments are intact.
Still, there’s no guarantee that Jokic will be able to return at the four-week mark when he’s reevaluated. Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints (Twitter link) suggests the 30-year-old could end up missing closer to six weeks.
The Nuggets’ depth will be tested in a major way during that time. The team was already down three starters, with Aaron Gordon (hamstring), Christian Braun (ankle), and Cameron Johnson (knee) all on the shelf. With Jokic now out too, guard Jamal Murray is the only opening-night starter still standing.
Head coach David Adelman said over the weekend that Gordon and Braun have a chance to return during the Nuggets’ current road trip, which runs through January 7 (Twitter link via Katy Winge of Altitude TV). Until then, Murray figures to be joined in the starting five by Peyton Watson, Spencer Jones, Tim Hardaway Jr., and Jonas Valanciunas.
The Nuggets are off to a 22-10 start this season and are well positioned in the Western Conference postseason picture at the moment, but they don’t have a ton of room for error as they attempt to hang onto a guaranteed (ie. top-six) playoff seed. The No. 6 Timberwolves currently trail Denver by just a game-and-a-half, while the No. 7 Suns are three games back of the Nuggets.
Although Jokic and the Nuggets will be more concerned about their record and their position in the standings, it’s also worth noting that this injury could cost the superstar center his award eligibility this season. In order to meet the 65-game requirement and qualify for end-of-season awards, Jokic can’t miss more than 17 games — Denver will play 18 times between now and the end of January.
If Jokic isn’t award-eligible, his streak of seven consecutive All-NBA appearances would come to an end, as would a stretch of five straight years in the top two in Most Valuable Player voting.
Jokic has been putting up historic numbers so far this season, averaging a career-high 29.6 points per game while leading the NBA with 12.2 rebounds and 11.0 assists per contest. His shooting line is an outrageous .605/.435/.853 and the Nuggets have a +12.3 net rating when he’s on the court, compared to a -6.3 mark when he’s not.
Well, if Embiid can win MVP playing 66 games…
And what’s your point? The NBA season
have 82 games, so if Embiid played in 66 games like you said that means that he
just missed 16 games that year.
“In order to meet the 65-game requirement
and qualify for end-of-season awards,
Jokic can’t miss more than 17 games —
Denver will play 18 times between now and the end of January.”
Do your math Sherlock.
^ someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning, jeez…
Yeah, you, like always. Comparing things that have nothing to do with anything.
Why don’t you cry about it some more?
Embiid was never even a top 5 player, let alone MVP, “Sherlock”.
What a bad take…
Sucks for the Nuggets.
Sure does. Hopefully everyone heals up in time for them to make up for the rough stretch ahead
Vu is available Denver fans.
They already have Jonas.
Vu has played 31 games this season: 11 games with a + score, and 20 games with a – score.
Vu stinks.
Nobody in here monitors + and – like you do Davey lol.
It is literally the only stat he understands and even then he doesn’t fully understand how to read it.
Literally everyone does, its a legit basketball stat, raz cope harder no one is taking your stale leftovers lol
I’m not even coping lmao relax dude you take things so sensitively these days on here.
deflect all you want, no one is taking your stale leftovers, Vu stinks lol
You mean just like your overuse of “3/39M = KD” last winter?
Looks like KD not choosing GSW was the right choice for his career at this stage.
“You mean just like your overuse of “3/39M = KD” last winter?”
Care to remind me about that one?
But yeah, you are right, GSW is totally NOT missing a 2nd shooter who is also a big…0/10 ragebait try again
“Moses Moody 3/39M will be used for trading KD”.
I mean…that’s what GSW were offering for him. Along with other pieces. So I was correct. Cool. Thanks for reminding me about another one of my many W’s and correct takes on here.
GSW wanted KD, not Jimmy. Jimmy wanted to be in Phoenix. This is why GSW fans should be open to trading Jimmy, even though he is still playing extremely well, especially on defense.
Who cares dude? Not doing this again.
You care. Immensely. Deeply.
Immensely. Deeply. Took me tf out!! 🤣🤣🤣
Don’t tell Davey but Podz has a higher plus minus score than Steph Curry this year. Maybe it’s not the be all and end all stat that Davey thinks it is.
What’s really a bummer is the injuries are hitting guys that have been historically reliable, like Braun and Jokic. As a Sixers fan, we expect to deal with roster issues because we have two key players in PG and Embiid that consistently miss games, but the Nuggets fans should have had legitimate expectations for this season given some pretty good preseason acquisitions that strengthened the bench.
But you really can’t survive injuries to four starters, so I think we’ll see Denver in play-in territory by the end of January.
How pissed would a team be to squeak into the play in, only run into a nuggets team Just back to full strength…
Put Murray in bubble wrap. Has any team had all five starters (and 90% of their payroll) out at the same time?
Grizzlies
Bummer
Make no mistake about it, this dude is the GOAT… that’s for sure!
It’s gonna be a very long January for the fans until he returns!
In past seasons, I would have thought they would struggle to win many games without Jokic. But man, that Val signing may end up being the thing that saves their season.
I’m not saying Val can replicate what Jokic does. Jokic is the best current player and it’s not particularly close in my opinion. But having a steady influence as a centre will help Murray and the team keep afloat until Jokic comes back with a vengeance.
Den goes 5-13 at best. Murray is a trash can without Jokic.