The Denver Nuggets got some good-but-bad injury news about MVP center Nikola Jokic today. Jokic was injured on Monday night in Denver’s game versus the Miami Heat. Prognosis was initially uncertain but feared serious. Today’s reports indicate that Jokic hyperextended his knee. He will be reevaluated in four weeks. That’s an extended absence, but not season-ending.
Jokic has a bone bruise in the hyperextended left knee as well, sources told ESPN’s Shams Charania.
It’s an obvious blow to the already
short-handed Nuggets — but is not a season-ending issue nor one that would require surgical repair. If Jokic misses a month, that means he would be sidelined for about 16 games but could be playing again before February’s NBA All-Star Game.
Jokic is currently averaging 30 points, 12 rebounds, and 11 assists in 35 minutes per game, having appeared in all 32 contests for the Nuggets this season. It’s a mark of how dominant he is that:
A. Those look like everyone else’s per-36-minute numbers at first glance, not per-game totals.
And…
B. His actual per-36 numbers are actually higher than that.
Denver currently stands at 22-10, third in the NBA’s ultra-competitive Western Conference. They are a single game behind the second-place San Antonio Spurs, a game ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers and Houston Rockets.
