After a season in which most of the Nuggets’ players have enjoyed solid health, they now find themselves in a position where Nikola Jokic has missed three straight games with the playoffs under a month away. They’ve had various guys in and out of the lineup for stretches, but besides a brief absence for the birth of his son, Jokic has been a rock in the Denver lineup.
Jokic has had - by his own admission - the best season of his career and his historic numbers have kept the Nuggets afloat in the Western Conference and masked many of the team’s other problems.
But the weight of that burden may finally be starting to catch up to the Joker. He tweaked an ankle a few weeks ago in Boston, then took a hard fall on his elbow in Oklahoma City. He has also carried a crazy workload and has started to show signs of fatigue in recent games.
It all added up to the team opting to hold Jokic out of the team’s Monday night game in Golden State. It was the Nuggets’ fourth game in six days and they had not looked good at all on Saturday in a loss to the Wizards.
It seemed like the team was just smartly getting him some rest, which drew the ire of the national media, but now it seems like more than rest. Jokic was ruled out again on Wednesday against the Lakers, then was ruled out a day in advance for Friday’s game with the Trail Blazers.
Nikola Jokic ruled out for 4th straight game at Houston
The Nuggets followed that trend on Saturday, ruling Jokic out for Sunday’s game over 24 hours in advance. This will be his fourth straight missed game with no clear timeline for a return in sight. He’s being listed on the injury report with ankle impingement and we’ve seen his movement slowed a bit, especially on the defensive end.
We’ve also seen a big dip in his shooting since his elbow injury. Jokic obviously needed some time off and the Nuggets to prioritize health and rest above all, but this is starting to get concerning. Four games off in a row in late March feels like more than rest for a team that’s battling for seeding.
As I’ve stated countless times, they should prioritize rest over seeding, but the team has lost back-to-back games and three out of four. They’re now sitting just three games up on the eighth seed in the West with several teams behind them surging. If Jokic is hurt, he certainly shouldn’t be playing, but the Nuggets need to find a way to get him right and steady the ship, and they need to do it fast.
Things won’t get any easier on Sunday as they travel to Houston to take on a red-hot Rockets team that has now won nine games in a row and holds a two-game lead over the Nuggets for the number two seed in the West standings.