The Denver Nuggets were dealt a shocking injury absence from Nikola Jokic tonight prior to a 128-108 blowout loss to the Houston Rockets on the second night of a back-to-back.
The Nuggets were without Nikola Jokic and Aaron Gordon tonight. Jokic’s absence was surprising, as he exited warmups due to right elbow inflammation and was deemed out just 45 minutes prior to tip-off. Gordon’s absence was planned, not playing on the back-to-back while returning from his right calf injury.
“When you’re without your starting power forward and center against a team that sits number two in the Western Conference, you have to play damn near perfect, and we were definitely far from that tonight.”
The Nuggets didn’t have a great response without Jokic and Gordon tonight. Jamal Murray and Christian Braun were both very good on the offensive end, with Braun being especially great. He made his first nine shots of the game, including multiple three-pointers and self-created shots. The Nuggets as a whole were good enough offensively.
Unfortunately, the defense was horrible. Denver allowed 128 points, including 41 in the second quarter to effectively put the game out of each. Denver committed 20 turnovers which translated to 34 points for the Rockets. It’s difficult to come back from that margin on any night, but especially without Nikola.
“That’s what they do,” Michael Malone said postgame of the Rockets forcing turnovers. “They’re an elite defense, number three in defensive rating…that fuels their break, 25-7 in fast break points.”
The Nuggets simply didn’t bother the Rockets tonight. Jalen Green had 34 points on 16 shots and played extremely efficiently, egging on the Ball Arena crowd in the process. Fred VanVleet had 16 points and eight assists to zero turnovers, making rainbow threes.
“It’s just tough. Second night of a back-to-back, we’ve been so resilient this season, but we just didn’t get it done today,” Jamal Murray lamented postgame. “They didn’t feel us from the jump, so they got comfortable.”
Denver’s offense outside of the turnovers was good enough. Murray had 22 points and five assists on 14 shots, shooting 4-of-5 from three. Christian Braun had 22 points himself, shooting an extremely impressive 10-of-11 from the field and 2-of-3 from three. His last bucket rattled out from distance, but he had made his first ten shots in a row and looked pretty comfortable.
Still, it wasn’t meant to be for the Nuggets. When you give up 128 points, it’s hard to win against the third best defense in the NBA.
Jokic injury clouded with unknowns
Postgame, Michael Malone offered little insight into the severity of Nikola Jokic’s injury.
“He hurt his elbow.”
When asked for more clarification if this was an injury Jokic had been dealing with for any time beyond tonight, Malone followed up: “Nope. It was just something that popped up last minute.”
Asked for an update on the severity of the injury, Malone deferred.
“I haven’t talked to the training staff yet. i will have a conversation with Steve Short to see where we’re at with that.”
Perhaps this was Malone being annoyed by the line of questioning following a blowout loss. Perhaps he simply didn’t have the information while at the podium, but Malone did little to clear up the confusion of Jokic’s injury. Nuggets fans will definitely harbor some concerns heading into a weekend road trip against the Miami Heat and Orlando Magic, checking the injury report as feverishly as possible.
If the Nuggets are without Jokic for a short period of time, they will simply have to survive his absence. They aren’t a good team without him, but they can win enough games to survive for a brief stretch.
If the Nuggets are without Jokic for a longer period of time, the entire complexion of the season changes for the team. There will be significant pressure on Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. to step up as scorers, as well as Russell Westbrook to step up as a playmaker.
Hopefully, the Nuggets share some good news in the next day or two.
Final Rotations
