The Denver Nuggets, suddenly, are holding their breath and hoping for the best.
Star center and three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokić suffered an left knee injury Monday, Dec. 29 in a game against the Miami Heat after awkwardly hyperextending it. Jokić trudged off the court with an extreme limp and did not return in the second half.
“Immediately, he knew something was wrong,” Nuggets coach David Adelman told reporters after the game, an eventual 147-123 Heat victory. “This is part of the NBA. Anyone who gets hurt, it’s gut-wrenching, especially somebody as special as he is.”
Initially, the Nuggets had said Jokić was questionable to return to the game, though he was not on the floor at the start of the second half.
The injury came late in the second quarter, with just 6 seconds left to play in the period, when Jokić was defending in the paint. As he was shuffling his feet, Nuggets forward Spencer Jones was pushed backward and Jones stepped on Jokić’s left foot as Jokić was planting it, causing his left knee to buckle and hyperextend backwards.
