Denver Nuggets fans held their breath Monday night after watching three-time MVP Nikola Jokic fall onto the court and instantly clutch his left knee.
At the end of an evenly fought first half with the Miami Heat, Jaime Jaquez Jr. was attacking the rim and posting Denver’s Spencer Jones into the paint. With his back turned, Jones stepped on Jokic’s left foot, causing an awkward bend in his leg and a swift fall onto the hardwood.
The Nuggets got outscored by 24 points in the second half en route to a season-worst 147-123 loss Monday night, but the defeat was the least of everyone’s concerns.
Jokic received an MRI scan early Tuesday morning, and to widespread relief, was diagnosed with a hyperextension (avoiding an ACL injury), putting him on the bench for at least four weeks.
This adds to the Nuggets’ discouraging list of starters placed on the injured report, with Jokic joining Aaron Gordon, Christian Braun and Cameron Johnson and now Jonas Valaciunas.
Just five days earlier, Johnson fell on a rebound attempt, resulting in a right knee contusion, sidelining him for four-to-six weeks. Gordon and Braun went out in mid-November, but both could return near the tail end of the Nuggets’ current seven-game road trip, concluding against the Boston Celtics on Jan. 7.
At least through the end of January, the Nuggets will sail in uncharted waters for the first time since Jokic became Jokic. The player who’s led the NBA in estimated impact per possession for the last five years is now out for a prolonged amount of time, leaving Denver without their source of elevation.
Jamal Murray‘s Time of Leadership
While watching Jokic evolve into the most effective basketball player of the 2020s, Murray has been his sidekick through and through. Their high pick-and-rolls and overall facilitating have made for one of the deadliest one-two punches in the league. While Jokic has done it without Murray, since he was recovering from the ACL tear over two playoffs, Murray has yet to show what he can do independently.
Although Head Coach David Adelman tries to restrict the minutes that Jokic and Murray are off the court together, Murray’s traditionally the first of the pair to get snubbed out. However, with a new four-week game plan that has no Joker at all — and an even alternative one until Gordon and Braun return — it will be Murray’s team to run.
Bench Production
Adelman will be forced to give many more minutes to Bruce Brown, Jalen Pickett and Julian Strawther. Even at the height of Denver’s power with no injuries, Adelman elected to run a 10–11 man rotation. So until Gordon and Braun return, expect to see the Nuggets’ shift through the likes of Zeke Nnaji, DaRon Holmes II, Hunter Tyson and Curtis Jones.
Since the expectation of a victory in each game might diminish temporarily, this stretch gives opportunities for players to make a name for themselves. The aforementioned leadership of Murray will be vital, with Strawther’s occasional hot shooting and the sneaky all-around talent of Holmes II could make for a handful of memorable nights.
This is also a large opportunity for Adelman to showcase he can do more with less. He’s done an above-proficient job thus far, still leading the team to a top-five record in the NBA whilst battling starting injuries.
His largest test is on the horizon, however, directing the Jokic-less Nuggets for five consecutive road games.
Upcoming Schedule
Turbulence is expected while Denver finishes its East Coast road trip, but returns home on Jan. 9 against the Atlanta Hawks. The short-handed Nuggets did already beat the Toronto Raptors, and still have yet to face the Cleveland Cavaliers (Prime Video), Brooklyn Nets, Philadelphia 76ers (Peacock) and Boston Celtics.
Adelman is hopeful Gordon and Braun will be reinstated by the end of the trip, only leaving a daunting three or four games with four true starters inactive.
Denver plays a crowded 17 games in the month of January, in a crucial stretch of the season before the All-Star break. Fortunately, as of Dec. 30, only five of those opponents have records above .500. While it will be a tiring campaign, with Gordon and Braun presumably active for the majority of the month, a lot of those games become winnable.
With Jokic out until a minimum of late January, and Johnson being solely reevaluated around the beginning of February, it’s hard to hide that it will be a difficult stretch.
Until Denver returns to full strength, the Nuggets could potentially fall into the sixth or seventh seed in the Western Conference. However, from that point, Denver will have two months to claw their way back into a higher seed and prepare itself for the NBA playoffs in April.
Leave a comment