The Denver Nuggets face a significant uphill climb following what may or may not be a serious injury to Nikola Jokic.
Jokic exited the Nuggets’ game vs the Miami Heat at halftime having sustained a hyperextension to his left knee. It was a scary fall, but what was most frightening was Jokic’s reaction. He was clearly in pain, and he immediately grabbed around the outside of his knee while rolling on the floor.
Jokic didn’t return, and despite Denver putting together an impressive comeback at the end of the first half, the Nuggets lost all momentum before sputtering in the second half. The Nuggets lost 147-123, allowing an absurd 84 points in the second half without Jokic. The Heat shot the lights out in the second half, and despite some impressive shooting from Spencer Jones, the Nuggets clearly didn’t have enough to keep up with Miami’s torrid pace.
Jokic’s absence meant that Jamal Murray was the long starter left on the floor for the Nuggets in this game. While Christian Braun and Aaron Gordon are nearing a return, they weren’t out there tonight. Cam Johnson is also a month away from returning, meaning that Murray had an extensive amount of pressure on himself in the second half.
To his credit, Murray finished with 20 points, 11 assists, and six rebounds compared to just two turnovers, but it’s notable that Jokic, despite missing the second half, was Denver’s leading scorer with 21 points. Tim Hardaway Jr. and Spencer Jones each had 16 points apiece while Bruce Brown chipped in 15 primarily in the first half. But it wasn’t quite enough to keep up with Miami.
The Heat simply rained down hellfire all evening against Denver. Their drive and kick offense yielded 22-of-46 on three-pointers (48%) as well as 15 offensive rebounds. The Nuggets were simply overwhelmed and out of position far too often to put up consistent resistance.
Jokic won’t ever be confused with an elite defender, but the Nuggets looked lost out there defensively without him. His positioning and hands, when engaged, are part of the best version of the Nuggets defensively. Jonas Valanciunas started for Jokic in the second half and struggled to keep up with Miami’s pace. Zeke Nnaji and DaRon Holmes II came off the bench as bigs in the fourth quarter, but that lasted two minutes before Denver decided that small ball with Spencer Jones at center was a better option.
Ultimately, it wasn’t meant to be tonight. Denver appeared overwhelmed in a physical and emotional sense. Losing your best player like that, especially with all of the other injuries Denver’s facing, can be a debilitating situation. That won’t change until the Nuggets get some confirmation of Jokic’s injury status either.
At some point on Tuesday, Jokic will go through an MRI that will determine the severity of his knee injury. Good news likely means the Nuggets are missing Jokic for a month or less. Bad news likely ends Denver’s season in any serious way. There are only a few players in the NBA where that’s the case, perhaps only a handful in the history of the NBA whose loss would be felt across the entire sport.
Hopefully, it doesn’t come to that. Hopefully, everyone’s breathing a sigh of relief that the injury isn’t as serious as it could’ve been and the Nuggets can simply plan how to survive without Jokic in the short term.
Here’s to a good result.