The Denver Nuggets should be getting their Serbian superstar back soon. Nikola Jokic, who has missed the last four games, is expected to return to the lineup during the team’s upcoming six-game homestand. Denver coach Michael Malone said as much prior to Denver’s 116-111 win against the Houston Rockets on Sunday, which Jokić sat out.
“He’s going to play in Denver, the five-game homestand,” Malone said. “He’ll play at some point, hopefully in that five-game homestand. Obviously, he’s not playing [Sunday]. I don’t think he’ll play [Monday]. We’re just trying to get home and kind of see where he’s at.”
Following Sunday’s win, the Nuggets’ upcoming home games feature matchups against the Bulls on Monday, Bucks on Wednesday, Jazz on Friday, and a back-to-back against the Timberwolves and Spurs next week.
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Jokić’s been dealing with a nagging ankle injury for quite some time, but has mostly been playing through it. When he was asked about limping around during the first quarter of Denver’s 110-103 loss to the Boston Celtics on March 2, the three-time league MVP said, “Yeah, I’ve limped basically the past 14 years.”
A few games later, when Malone asked Jokić if he wanted to sit out to heal a bit from the ankle and elbow injury he’s been dealing with on what would’ve been the second game of a back-to-back against the Thunder and third game in four days, he responded, “Hell no.”
While Jokić is persistent in not wanting to sit out games if he’s healthy enough to play, he’s been putting up some heavy minutes over the last few weeks. Over the last eight games, Jokić is averaging nearly 40 minutes a game, an incredibly taxing workload which only yielded a 4-4 record for the Nuggets during that span. It’s obvious that the Nuggets absolutely need Jokić on the floor to win games, which has been increasingly evident over these last four games. They’ve gone just 2-2 with him sidelined, including a 128-109 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers.
But Denver, now 45-27, also needs Jokić to not be gassed and injured, especially as the playoffs near. In the short term it may cost the Nuggets some wins, especially as the seeding in the Western Conference becomes tighter, but if it means Jokić is closer to 100% when the postseason starts, then you’ll take that tradeoff.
Jokic is averaging a triple-double — 29.1 points, 12.8 rebounds and 10.3 assists per game — and is one of the favorites for MVP with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder.
With Sunday’s win, the Nuggets hold the No. 3 seed in the West — one game behind the No. 2 seed Rockets (46-26) and one game ahead of the No. 4 seed Lakers (43-27).
