Denver Nuggets Roster, Injury News 2017: Nikola Jokić to Miss Multiple Games With Ankle Injury
Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokić narrowly avoided a serious ankle injury in their 111–110 win over the Chicago Bulls last Thursday, but he will still have to sit out a few games to give it a chance to heal.
According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, Jokić underwent a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) exam on his left ankle on Friday and the results came back negative. Initial X-rays of the ankle were also negative.
The Serbian center was diagnosed with a left ankle sprain and it's going to keep him on the sidelines for several games.
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Jokić sprained his left ankle late in the second quarter when he stepped on Bulls guard Jerian Grant's foot while he was driving toward the rim. He actually went to the line to shoot two free throws before he was taken out of the game. After the match, veteran forward Richard Jefferson said he talked Jokić into shooting the free throws before the center left for the locker room.
"It was chaotic. It was a timeout, and he was saying he was done," Jefferson said, via ESPN. "I was like, 'Dude, if don't go and shoot the free throws, one, the other team gets to pick who shoots them, and two, if you go back in the half and you start feeling a little better, you can't come back,'" he continued.
Jokić would not return to the game and he also missed the Nuggets' 115–100 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday.
With Paul Millsap out for three months after undergoing surgery to repair a torn ligament in his left wrist, the Nuggets will now have to play without their two best players.
Jokić is averaging 15.9 points, 11.0 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 1.4 steals in 21 games this season. He's shooting 51 percent from the field, 40.6 percent from beyond the arc and 86.4 percent from the free throw line.
