Miami (AFP) – Nikola Jokic suffered a “gut-wrenching” knee injury as the Denver Nuggets crashed to a 147-123 defeat to the Miami Heat on Monday. Three-time NBA Most Valuable Player Jokic exited in the final seconds of the first half of the game at Miami’s Kaseya Center.
The 30-year-old Serbian star collapsed to the court in agony after team-mate Spencer Jones stepped on his left foot as he defended a drive from Miami’s Jaime Jaquez Jr. Jokic’s left knee appeared to buckle in the incident, and the center did not appear for the second half.
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Nuggets coach David Adelman said the team had yet to determine the severity of Jokic’s injury. “All I know is that Jokic has a left knee injury and he needs to go through the process. I watched it at half-time and it looked like he got his feet tangled up. He knew immediately something was wrong,” Adelman said.
“This is part of the NBA. Anyone who gets hurt, it’s gut-wrenching. Especially someone as special as he is. We’ll find out more tomorrow and move on as a team. I’m more concerned about him as a person and the disappointment of going through something like that. It’s unfortunate and we’re hoping for the best… it sucks, but hoping for the best tomorrow.”
Jokic had scored 21 points with eight assists and five rebounds when he left the game with the score finely poised at 63-63. The Nuggets are already dealing with an injury crisis that has left them deprived of regular starters Aaron Gordon and Christian Braun. Jokic’s absence for the second half of Monday’s game was keenly felt, with Miami outscoring Denver 84-60 after the break to coast to victory.
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