Denver nuggets should recover their Serbian superstar soon. Nikola Jokic is expected to have lost the last four games, return to the alignment during the next six games house. Denver’s coach Michael Malone said so much before the 116-111 victory of Denver against Houston’s rocks on Sunday, that Jokić stayed out.
“He’s going to play in Denver, the five -game homestand.” Malone said. “He will play at some point, hopefully on that five -game farm. Obviously, he is not playing [Sunday]. I don’t think I play [Monday]. We are just trying to get home and see where it is. “
After Sunday’s victory, the next games at the Nuggets house have clashes against the Bulls on Monday, Bucks on Wednesday, Jazz on Friday and a consecutive against the Timberwolves and the Spurs next week.
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Jokić has been dealing with a persistent ankle injury for quite some time, but he has mostly playing it. When asked about limping during the first quarter of Denver 110-103 against the Boston Celtics on March 2, the three-time MVP of the League said: “Yes, I have basically limited in the last 14 years.”
A few games later, when Malone asked Jokić if he wanted to sit down a bit of the ankle and the elbow injury he has been dealing about what would have been the second game of a return to the back against the Thunder and the third game in four days, he replied: “Illia no.”
While Jokić is persistent in not wanting to sit down if he is healthy enough to play, he has been heavy minutes in recent weeks. In the last eight games, Jokić is averaging almost 40 minutes per game, an incredibly demanding workload that only threw a 4-4 record for Nuggets during that period. It is obvious that Nuggets need Jokić absolutely on the floor to win games, which has been increasingly evident in these last four games. They have been only 2-2 with him outside, including a 128-109 defeat against the Portland Trail Blazers.
But Denver, now 45-27, also needs Jokić to not be gased and injured, especially when the playoffs approach. In the short term, some victories can cost the Nuggets, especially as it sows at the West Conference, but if that means that Jokić is closer to 100% when the postseason begins, then he will take that compensation.
Jokic averages a triple-double-29.1 points, 12.8 rebounds and 10.3 assists for game-and is one of the favorites for MVP with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of Oklahoma City Thunder.
With Sunday’s victory, Nuggets have seed No. 3 in the West, a game behind seeds No. 2 (46-26) and a game ahead of Lakers No. 4 (43-27).
