Nikola Jokic is preparing to play Friday night against the Clippers after missing the last month with a knee injury, a Nuggets source confirmed to The Denver Post.
Jokic hyperextended his left knee and suffered a bone bruise on Dec. 29 during a loss to Miami. He has missed 16 games — the longest sustained absence of his NBA career — but returning this weekend keeps him eligible for end-of-year awards such as MVP and All-NBA teams. He can only miss one more game this regular season.
Jokic’s status was upgraded to questionable on the team’s official injury report on Friday afternoon.
The Nuggets (32-16) have exceeded expectations without Jokic, going 10-6 while also dealing with a list of other injuries. Nuggets coach David Adelman said on Thursday night that he’s confident Denver will have Cam Johnson (knee) and Christian Braun (ankle) back in the lineup before the All-Star break in mid-February.
Jokic is matching a career-high with 29.6 points per game while leading the league in rebounds (12.2), assists (11) and true shooting percentage (71.3%). He’s shooting 60.5% from the field and 43.5% from the 3-point line. Earlier this month, he was named an All-Star for an eighth consecutive year despite the time he’s missed.
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As he neared a return, Jokic started doing his usual pregame shooting routine last week while the Nuggets were in Washington. His ramp-up process was one week behind the return of backup center Jonas Valanciunas, who missed 11 consecutive games, leaving Denver without an active player taller than 6-foot-10 for most of January.
The Nuggets will host Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday in the first head-to-head matchup this season between the two Western Conference contenders.
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