Nuggets coach reveals plan after “gut-wrenching” injury to Jokic
Nuggets coach David Adelman spoke about the injury to his star player after he limped off the court.
Nikola Jokic’s night in Miami ended in concern rather than celebration on Monday as the Denver Nuggets star exited early with a left knee injury during a heavy loss to the Miami Heat.
In a game that saw the Heat cruise to a 147-123 victory, Jokic was showing no signs of trouble through 19 minutes. The three-time NBA Most Valuable Player put up 21 points, eight assists and five rebounds, orchestrating Denver’s offence with his usual flair.
With just seconds to go before halftime, Jokic was backing up a teammate when Spencer Jones inadvertently stepped on his left foot. The contact caused Jokic’s left leg to hyperextend, his knee buckled and he collapsed to the court, clutching the area in discomfort.
#MileHighBasketball 3-time MVP Nikola Jokic went down with a left knee hyper-extension injury tonight, let’s break this down pic.twitter.com/8wDN1jSAg7
— MEDspiration (@MEDspirationNFP) December 30, 2025
“No serious damage” as signs “encouraging”
He was helped to his feet but limped off the court as the Nuggets headed to the locker room at the break and did not return for the second half. The team later announced he was questionable to return and added that he would be subject to further evaluation.
In the aftermath of the game, Nuggets coach David Adelman opened up on the situation, saying “immediately, he knew something was wrong. This is part of the NBA. Anyone who gets hurt, it’s gut-wrenching, especially somebody as special as he is. We’ll find out more tomorrow.“ At this stage, details on how long he might be sidelined remain unclear.
According to reports from Jokic’s home country of Serbia, the signs are “encouraging” and that there was “no serious damage” to his knee.
Jokic’s absence will be a significant miss for the Nuggets. He leads the league in rebounds (12.2 per game) and assists (11.0 per game); when he went off, he had accumulated 21 points, five boards and eight assists in 19 minutes. Over 32 appearances so far, he tallied 29.6 points, 12.2 rebounds, 11.0 assists, 1.4 steals, and 0.8 blocks per game.
Coach Adelman on Nikola Jokic’s knee injury:
— Underdog NBA (@UnderdogNBA) December 30, 2025
“Obviously, immediately he knew something was wrong… We’ll find out more tomorrow.”
“It’s unfortunate. Hoping for the best.”pic.twitter.com/D0clYCsHGe
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The Heat, who had trailed at halftime, seized control after Jokic’s departure. Miami produced a dominant second half performance, pulling off a number of scoring runs that pulled them comfortably ahead.
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