Nikola Jokic says he'll play tonight on one-year anniversary of Nuggets' offensive awakening

Denver Nuggets star center Nikola Jokic said Friday morning after going through shootaround that he’ll play tonight versus the New Orleans Pelicans.

Jokic missed the Nuggets’ last seven games after spraining his ankle in Denver’s 111-110 win over the Bulls on Nov. 30. The 22-year-old was deemed “available to play” by team doctors ahead of Denver’s loss Wednesday night in Boston, but Nuggets coach Michael Malone didn’t think his big man was ready to return.

“I didn’t think he was ready,” Malone said via Altitude TV’s broadcast. “(The medical staff) might say he was ready but for myself and talking with him, it’s not just, ‘Is the ankle ready”‘ It’s, ‘Is his head ready?’ And I didn’t think he was ready to play tonight, so I made that decision.”

Malone still considers Jokic questionable for tonight’s matchup. A final call on his availability will be made after pregame warmups. However, all signs point to Jokic playing. He’ll likely be limited by a minutes restriction. Will Barton (low back contusion), who missed Wednesday’s game in Boston is questionable for tonight as well.

Jokic, who’s averaging 15.5 points on 51.0 percent shooting from the field and 40.6 percent from three to go with 10.6 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game, said he’s still in a little bit of pain but plans to get treatment and play through it.

“I can do most of the stuff,” Jokic said.

It’s purely a coincidence but remarkably ironic that Jokic’s first game back from injury will likely come tonight. Dec. 15 is a date that’s considered sacred within Nuggets’ inner circles for what took place last season.

Dec. 15, 2016 marked the date of Denver’s first home game following a similar six-game road trip where Denver also went 2-4 (with one of its wins also coming versus the Orlando Magic).

At the time, the Nuggets were 9-16 and barely treading water in what was shaping up to be a competitive Western Conference. The frontcourt pairing of Jokic and Jusuf Nurkic that Denver went with to start the season had failed. Jokic then volunteered to come off the bench and did so for 14 games.

“I feel like I’ve done him a disservice almost exploring playing big,” Malone said last season of playing Jokic at power forward. “There were some good things with that, but I took a kid who had a great year and changed his position on him and it hasn’t been easy for him.

On Dec. 15 Malone reinserted Jokic into the starting lineup against the Portland Trail Blazers. Denver went on to score what was then a season-high 132 points and won by double digits. Jokic finished with 13 points, four rebounds and five assists.

The rest is history. Denver went 31-26 over the remaining 57 games, and Jokic conducted the league’s best offense over the final two-thirds of the season.

The Nuggets missed out on the playoffs by a game, but the foundation of their roster was set in stone for years to come. Denver started to build around Jokic, began targeting rotation player to fit with his skill-set, and of course, signed marquee free agent Paul Millsap to a three-year $90 million contract in part because of how he’d fit with Jokic and the rest of their roster.

Fast-forward exactly one year and Jokic is the Nuggets’ cornerstone, their franchise, and set to make his return to the lineup, albeit under much different circumstances.

[column size=”1/2″]Nuggets Projected Starters

Jamal Murray
Gary Harris
Wilson Chandler
Trey Lyles
Nikola Jokic[/column]
[column size=”1/2″]Pelicans Projected Starters

Rajon Rondo
Jrue Holiday
E’Twaun Moore
Anthony Davis
DeMarcus Cousins[/column]