Murray, Jones and the Nuggets are facing a huge challenge out of Jokic's unfortunate and looming injury absence.
The Denver Nuggets are keeping their fingers crossed that Nikola Jokic didn't suffer from a serious injury.
Nikola Jokic
Nikola Jokic
Nikola Jokic
MIN: 34.56
PTS: 29.63 (67.92%)
REB: 12.16
As: 10.97
ST: 1.34
BL: 0.75
TO: 3.5
GM: 32
As it is, Jokic left the Nuggets' 147-123 Monday loss against the Miami Heat due to an apparent left knee injury. He sustained it in the final seconds of the first half and was limping as he left the floor.
He didn't rejoin the Nuggets in the second half as he was subsequently announced unavailable to return, ending the night with 21 points, eight assists and five boards in 19 minutes of play.
Spencer Jones addresses accidental hit on Jokic's foot
Jokic particularly endured the knee injury in an unexpected circumstance. Teammate Spencer Jones was defending Heat forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. and accidentally stepped on the Serbian superstar's left foot.
Upon this, it appeared that Jokic's leg hyperextended. The Nuggets center went down and was visibly in pain as he grabbed his left knee.
Jones argued he didn't expect how the unfortunate event unfolded for Jokic, as he was just trying to give the Nuggets a defensive stop against the Heat before halftime.
"You know, I never want to see him on the floor, anything like that. And so I hope he'll be alright. We'll be praying for him."
Jamal Murray hopes Jokic's knee injury isn't serious
As there is a possibility that Jokic will be sidelined for a significant timeline, the pressure becomes heavier for Jamal Murray to step up.
Both Murray and Jokic have carried the Nuggets in the wake of the team's brutal injury list, from missing fellow starters such as Christian Braun (ankle), Aaron Gordon (hamstring) and Cam Johnson (knee).
Under their leadership, the Nuggets (22-10) maintained their stand as one of the powerhouse teams in the NBA, sitting at No. 3 in the West standings.
"I just wish the best. The first thing that went through my mind was I hope it's not what I had," Murray said about Jokic, who is perhaps referring to the torn ACL injury he sustained in 2021.
"Obviously, it's part of the game, but we never want to see it happen. So I'll talk to him soon."
Denver is currently sliding with a two-game losing skid to kickstart its grinding seven-game road trip. They'll play Toronto, Cleveland, Brooklyn, Philadelphia and Boston on their East Coast visit.
Murray is compelled to lead the charge for the Nuggets with their main man out.
"It's the same kind of mentality, just next man up," Murray said. "We got to focus on what's in here.
"Obviously, he's not just a big part of what we do, but almost everything that we do. So we just want to see him healthy, you know. We just want to see him healthy, and everybody's in here to ready step up."
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