Nikola Jokic goes down with a knee injury (0:41)Nikola Jokic goes down hard and limps off to the Nuggets’ locker room at the end of the first half vs. the Heat. (0:41)
Jokic collapsed to the court, grabbing at his knee. He was helped to his feet, then made his way to the locker room under his own power but with a pronounced limp. He was evaluated by doctors Monday night before leaving the arena, and the Nuggets were scheduled to fly to Toronto on Tuesday for a game against the Raptors on Wednesday.
“It’s just part of this process,” Adelman said. “You don’t get definitive answers right after these things happen. I know he’s an extremely special player that people want updates on right away; makes total sense to me. But we’ll go through the process properly, for him and for our team.”
The Nuggets have dealt with some major injury issues this season and were playing Monday without three would-be starters — Christian Braun (left ankle sprain), Aaron Gordon (right hamstring strain) and Cameron Johnson (right knee injury management).
“The things that he’s doing this year,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said before Monday’s game, “are really remarkable.”
Jokic is a three-time MVP and certainly was in the early MVP conversation this season, having entered Monday averaging 29.9 points, 12.4 rebounds and 11.1 assists — well on his way to a triple-double average for the second consecutive campaign.
“He’s not just a big part of what we do, but almost everything that we do,” Nuggets guard Jamal Murray said. “We just want to see him healthy, and everybody in here is ready to step up.”
Jokic has also been remarkably durable. He has sat out 36 games over the past five seasons; the Nuggets have gone 13-23 in those absences. He has played in all 32 of Denver’s games this season.
Nikola Jokic goes down with a knee injury (0:41)Nikola Jokic goes down hard and limps off to the Nuggets’ locker room at the end of the first half vs. the Heat. (0:41)
Nikola Jokic goes down hard and limps off to the Nuggets’ locker room at the end of the first half vs. the Heat. (0:41)
He was not on the court for the second half and will have an MRI on Tuesday.
Denver has managed its way through those injuries — thanks in large part to Jokic.