Nikola Jokic went down on Monday night, and it felt like the world stopped spinning. Spencer Jones fell back into Jokic’s left leg, which caused Joker’s left knee to hyperextend. He fell down, writhing in pain and grasping at his leg before valiantly limping to the locker room as the halftime buzzer had sounded.
Jokic was initially deemed questionable and was ruled out shortly into the second half. To say the mood in the building shifted in the second half would be a drastic understatement. The Nuggets, who were already without Aaron Gordon, Cam Johnson, and Christian Braun, were also without Jokic for the second half, and things got ugly.
The team was overmatched physically and talent-wise against Miami, but they also seemed out of it mentally, understandably in a state of shock after watching their best player, a man who feels nearly invincible, go down and never return.
The Nuggets and Heat were actually tied at 63 at half, with Jokic putting up 21 points, 5 rebounds, and 8 assists in just 19 minutes. But it was all downhill after that. The Denver defense was non-existent, allowing Miami to drop 47 points in the third quarter, then another 37 in the fourth, en route to a 147-123 drubbing.
Fans holding breath for Jokic injury update
For now, everyone is still waiting for some news on Jokic. After the game, David Adelman expressed that all he knew was that it was a left knee injury. He explained that Jokic knew something was wrong immediately and that they’re all just hoping for the best.
There is some early optimism that he might have avoided a worst-case scenario, but we’ll have to wait for the MRI to confirm anything on Tuesday morning. Even if it’s good news, that will likely mean some missed time for the three-time MVP, and that’s going to be a tough pill for the Nuggets to swallow.
The team is already incredibly shorthanded, as the only starter currently healthy is now Jamal Murray. Murray is having a great season, but he’s going to struggle to keep this team afloat if Jokic is out for long.
The Western Conference is a gauntlet this season. Denver has been doing a great job, off to a 22-10 start that has them in third place in the conference. But they’re just 3 games ahead of the 7 seed, and if they need to go days, weeks, or even months without Jokic, on top of the other injuries, this is going to turn into a survive-and-advance situation very quickly to try and save the season.