The Denver Nuggets ran into a Nikola Jokic injury scare before the new year.
The viral clip of Jokic's setback had the NBA world worried that he might have suffered his first major injury since entering the NBA. Jokic was diagnosed with a hyperextended left knee. That ended up being a relief after the initial scare.
The Nuggets planned to evaluate Jokic roughly four weeks from the December 29 matchup against the Miami Heat. Early February seemed like a reasonable target date for the superstar big man, but a recent update suggests that the league shouldn't be surprised if it happens earlier.
Nikola Jokic Gets a Key Injury Update
"A big development here-Nikola Jokic has resumed on-court workouts for Denver," ESPN's Shams Charania said on Wednesday.
"He's right on schedule, if not a little bit ahead of schedule, to make his return to the lineup at the end of this month. That's about that initial four-week timetable that they had. The Nuggets are optimistic Nikola Jokic will be able to return in that late January mark. He's making great progress. Rapid progress."
Jokic was seen shortly after the injury occurred, and fans were immediately optimistic seeing how he was moving. There wasn't enough evidence to truly suggest he was on track to potentially return earlier than his initial timeline, but the latest update backs some of that optimism from outsiders.
The Nuggets don't have to rush Jokic back on the court. Clearly, they are better with him, especially considering all of the setbacks they are dealing with as a team, but Denver has held its own in his absence.
Since Jokic went out, the Nuggets are 5-3. They are in the midst of a two-game winning streak heading into their Wednesday night action against the Dallas Mavericks.
Overall, the Nuggets are 27-13 this season. They are tied with the San Antonio Spurs for the second seed, trailing the Oklahoma City Thunder by 6.5 games.
Before going out, Jokic averaged 29.6 points on 60 percent shooting, along with 11 assists and 12 rebounds.
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