The Nuggets are going to have to grind for a little bit longer.
Nikola Jokic went through a standard pregame routine prior to Denver’s game against the Pistons, including a dunk to end it, but he remained in street clothes at tipoff. Jokic will be reevaluated in roughly a week, according to an ESPN report Tuesday afternoon.
“He’s heading in the right direction. He’s been on the court,” Nuggets coach David Adelman said during his pregame press conference. “I think it’s not just the injury, I think it’s the mental part, too, getting yourself ready to come back after going through that a month ago.”
Jokic suffered a bone bruise in his left knee Dec. 29. The initial plan was for him to be reevaluated in four weeks. Tuesday was exactly four weeks since the Nuggets found out the severity of Jokic’s injury. He had a compression sleeve on his left leg during his warmup. Denver’s gone 9-5 without Jokic to maintain the third spot in the Western Conference.
“We’ll do the best we can to make sure that when he comes back, it’s for the right reason,” Adelman said. “It’s not like we’re holding off, because we won some games. Believe me, that’s not what we’re doing here.”
If Jokic misses the entirety of the homestand, which concludes with Sunday’s game against the Thunder, he will be ineligible for Most Valuable Player or All-NBA honors.
