
UPDATE: Jokic is back out with the team warming up for the second half.
ORIGINAL POST:
During Tuesday night’s game between the Denver Nuggets and Utah Jazz, star big man Nikola Jokic went down with a potentially serious injury.
Jokic was defending Defensive Player of the Year winner Rudy Gobert in the low post when the two big men knocked knees. Gobert tried to get past Jokic, but threw his right knee into Jokic’s, causing the Nuggets star to fall awkwardly to the ground.
The reigning NBA MVP remained down on the ground for several minutes holding his right knee. He looked to be in tremendous pain.
Here’s video of the play.
The good news is that Jokic was able to walk off the court under his own power. The bad news, however, is that he did so with a very significant and pronounced limp.
Hopefully there is no damage to the knee other than just the pain of direct contact with Gobert. NBA insider Mike Singer reporter Jokic suffered a knee contusion and is questionable to return.
“Nikola Jokic has a right knee contusion and is questionable to return,” Singer said on Twitter.
It’s a good early diagnosis for Jokic when the injury could have been much more severe.