MIAMI — Nikola Jokic is only going to miss a few weeks, which is surely cause for the Denver Nuggets to take a giant sigh of relief.
The Nuggets’ superstar center has been diagnosed with a hyperextended left knee, the team said Tuesday, adding that the three-time MVP will be re-evaluated in four weeks.
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.
The 6-foot-11 Jokic — considered by many to be the best player in the world — got hurt with about three seconds left in the first half of Denver’s 147-123 loss in Miami on Monday night.
Jokic entered Tuesday ranked fifth in the NBA in scoring this season at 29.6 points per game, plus leads the league with averages of 12.2 rebounds and 11 assists. The only other player in NBA history to average at least 12 rebounds and 11 assists over a full season was Oscar Robertson for the Cincinnati Royals in 1961-62.
“Obviously, it’s part of the game,” Nuggets guard Jamal Murray said Monday night after the game — speaking before the team got the word on the severity of Jokic’s injury. “But we never want to see it happen. … Next man up. We’ve got to focus on what’s in here.”
Denver has five games left on a seven-game road trip, one that resumes Wednesday when the Nuggets visit the Toronto Raptors.
Jokic was alone under the basket and appeared to step forward to help Denver’s Spencer Jones defend a drive by Miami’s Jaime Jaquez Jr. as time was about to expire in the second quarter. While backtracking, Jones stepped on Jokic’s left foot and it seemed the center’s knee buckled a bit.
Jokic collapsed to the court, grabbing at the knee. He was helped to his feet, then made his way to the locker room under his own power but with a pronounced limp.
Denver has been playing without three would-be starters in Aaron Gordon, Christian Braun and Cam Johnson. Even after dropping four of their last six games the Nuggets are still currently No. 3 in the Western Conference at 22-10, with Jokic having played in all 32 of those games.
That’s about to change, obviously. Denver is 13-23 over the last five seasons when Jokic isn’t in the lineup, and any slippage in the coming weeks would be damaging to the Nuggets’ playoff positioning. The Nuggets entered Tuesday only three games ahead of Phoenix, which is currently seventh in the conference.
“You just have to stay with it as a team and as a group,” Nuggets coach David Adelman said Monday night. “And honestly, you have to stay with it as a team and a group because that’s how you best support your teammates that are out — by honoring them when you play. So, we’ll move on from there. This is part of the NBA.”
The injury interrupts what might be Jokic’s best season of his career. Not only is he leading the league in rebounds and assists, but he’s shooting a career-best 43.5% from 3-point range and tops the NBA with a true shooting percentage — a formula that accounts for 3-pointers and free throws — of just over 71%.
“It’s like a quest for efficiency and consistency, and I think that’s whether he admits it or not, he sees it as a craft,” Adelman said before Monday’s game, a couple of hours before the injury happened. “He’s trying to look at it as something, ‘What can I get better over the year at?’ And I think it’s been really impressive to watch him over these years, not be satisfied with it, and attack new journeys.”
The injury and the timeline laid out by the Nuggets could also mean Jokic is ineligible for major individual NBA awards this season. He would have to appear in 65 of Denver’s 82 games to be eligible for most awards like MVP and All-NBA; the re-evaluation timeline suggests that he could miss more than 17 games because of this injury.
Jokic has been first or second in the MVP balloting in each of the last five seasons, plus has been voted onto the All-NBA team in each of the last seven seasons.
With Jokic likely headed toward award ineligibility, BetMGM Sportsbook adjusted its MVP odds on Tuesday — installing reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder as the big favorite at -450, well ahead of Luka Doncic of the Los Angeles Lakers (+375). Nobody else is close; Detroit’s Cade Cunningham has the third-best odds at +4000.
