Things looked bleak for the Denver Nuggets when superstar center Nikola Jokic went down with a left knee injury on Dec. 29, but they went 10-6 without the three-time NBA Most Valuable Player.
The Nuggets have him back, and he’ll be in the lineup for the second straight game when the Oklahoma City Thunder visit Denver on Sunday night.
Jokic sustained a bone bruise in his hyperextended knee at Miami and was expected to miss up to six weeks. He returned Friday night and showed no rust, pouring in 31 points and grabbing 12 rebounds in just 25 minutes in the Nuggets’ 122-109 home win over the Los Angeles Clippers.
Jokic said he decided to forgo 5-on-5 workouts and jump back into the lineup. His casual attitude belies his fierce competitiveness, and the 30-year-old said it was hard not being in the lineup.
“You miss playing. You miss the pressure. You miss the adrenaline. Just being out there with the guys and trying to win a game,” said Jokic, a seven-time All-Star in his 11th NBA season. “It’s a collective (feeling) that I missed. This hasn’t happened for me probably in my career. So it was an interesting feeling.”
Jokic leads Denver in scoring average (29.7), rebounding (12.2) and assists (10.8) and his 180 career triple-doubles are one shy from tying Oscar Robertson for second-most in league history. Russell Westbrook has 207 in 1,285 games.
Jamal Murray, who helped carry the Nuggets in Jokic’s absence, is averaging a career-best 25.8 points per game.
Denver is hoping to get Christian Braun (left ankle) and Cameron Johnson (right knee) back before the All-Star break, but Aaron Gordon (right hamstring) won’t return until at least mid-March. Gordon sustained his injury at Milwaukee on Jan. 23.
Oklahoma City also is dealing with injuries to key players. Jalen Williams (hamstring) has missed the last six games, Ajay Mitchell (abdomen) hasn’t played since Jan. 21 and Alex Caruso (right adductor strain) has missed the past five games.
Williams, Mitchell and Caruso have been ruled out for Sunday, but the Thunder do have center Isaiah Hartenstein in the lineup. Hartenstein returned Thursday and had 11 points and five rebounds in 18 minutes of a 123-111 road loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. He had missed 16 games with a calf strain and has played in only 25 of the Thunder’s 49 games this season.
“When there’s a piece missing and when you get it back, that could turn the tide of the way you play,” Oklahoma City guard Isaiah Joe said. “(Hartenstein) rebounds. He screens. He creates action. He makes it easier for everybody else on the floor.”
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has been healthy for most of the season and he’s a heavy favorite to win his second straight MVP award. Gilgeous-Alexander is second in the NBA in scoring (32 points a game) and leads Oklahoma City in assists (6.2). Chet Holmgren is second on the Thunder in scoring (17.8), is second to Hartenstein in rebounding (8.6) and leads the team in blocked shots (two per game), which ranks third in the league.
Sunday night is the first of four meetings between the Northwest Division rivals and the first since Oklahoma City beat the Nuggets in Game 7 of the Western Conference semifinals in May on its way to the NBA title.
