According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, the Denver Nuggets will be without superstar big man and back-to-back MVP Nikola Jokic tomorrow night against the New York Knicks due to health and safety protocols.
This is the second time in the past week that Denver has been affected by health and safety protocols as Bones Hyland has missed each of the past two games for the Nuggets. This will be the first game Jokic has missed all season and there’s no telling whether he’ll be back when the Nuggets play in Dallas on Friday night.
On the season, Jokic is averaging 20.8 points, 9.5 rebounds, and 8.9 assists per game and has played a massive role in the Nuggets early season success. Jeff Green or DeAndre Jordan are likely to slot into the Nuggets starting lineup for Jokic and will likely have to square off against former Denver center Isaiah Hartenstein as Knicks normal center Mitchell Robinson missed tonight’s game against Utah due to a knee injury.
Jokic’s situation will certainly be one to monitor moving forward as hopefully he will be able to return to the floor sooner rather than later. The Nuggets depth will certainly be tested tomorrow night, but luckily they will be hosting a Knicks on the second night of a back-to-back.
With a win tomorrow night, the Nuggets record will move to 10-4, which will still be good for first place in the Western Conference. Denver is also 4-0 at home to start the year, so they will look to stay unbeaten even without their MVP to lead the way.
