Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokić left the team’s 147-123 loss to the Miami Heat early on Monday night with a left knee injury.
Jokić stepped awkwardly and his left knee buckled while standing in the paint in the final seconds of the first half at the Kesaya Center on Monday. Teammate Spencer Jones stepped back on Jokić’s foot as he was trying to guard Jaime Jaquez Jr., and that’s when Jokić’s knee buckled.
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He instantly fell to the ground after the bad step and started rolling around in pain while grabbing his left knee as Kel’el Ware made an easy layup, which tied the game at the break. Jokić eventually stood up and walked to the locker room on his own, but he was limping significantly and barely put any weight on his left leg as he did so.
Jokić did not start the game in the second half, and the team initially said he was questionable to return with a left knee injury. He did not return. He is expected to undergo testing on his knee Tuesday. Further specifics of his injury are not yet known.
“Anybody that gets hurt in this game, it’s kind of gut-wrenching, especially somebody as special as he is,” Nuggets coach David Adelman said. “So we, we’ll find out more tomorrow and we’ll move on as a team.”
Jokić finished the night with 21 points, eight assists and five rebounds. He shot 9-of-14 from the field in the first half, too. The three-time league MVP entered the contest averaging 29.2 points per game while leading the league with both 12.4 rebounds and 11.1 assists per contest.
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Without Jokić around, the Heat took off in the second half to grab the easy 24-point win. They jumped up by 11 points after the third quarter, and then opened the final period on a 32-17 run. Their 147 points marked the most they’ve scored in a game this season.
Norman Powell led the Heat with 25 points, and Nikola Jovic added 22 points off the bench after shooting 5-of-8 from behind the arc. Jaquez finished with 20 points and 11 assists. The Heat shot 54% from the field and made 22 3-pointers. The win was their third straight, and got them to 18-15 this season.
Jamal Murray had 20 points and 11 assists for the Nuggets. Both Jones and Tim Hardaway added 16 points each, too. The Nuggets have now lost four of their last six games and fell to 22-10 on the season. The game marked the second of a seven-game road trip.
