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Nuggets hoping Nikola Jokic returns "towards the middle or end" of upcoming road trip

December 2, 2017

Star center Nikola Jokic will travel with the Denver Nuggets on their upcoming road trip beginning Monday in Dallas, coach Michael Malone said Saturday morning at shootaround. Jokic won’t play tonight against the Lakers, but Malone believes he could return to action during the latter portion of their six-game East Coast swing.

“Hopefully he’ll be able to participate towards the middle or end of it is probably right now the best-case scenario,” Malone said.

After the Nuggets host the Lakers, they depart on their second-longest road trip of the season. They begin in Dallas and travel to New Orleans, Orlando, Indiana, Detroit and Boston. The trip runs from Dec. 4 through Dec. 13. The Nuggets will play six road games in a span of just 10 days.

X-rays taken at Pepsi Center Thursday night on Jokic’s ankle came back negative. An MRI confirmed that Jokic suffered an ankle sprain. Denver’s starting center experienced swelling right away and got treatment Saturday during shootaround.

“This one swelled up right away,” Malone said. “I was surprised he was able to get his sneaker on.”

Jokic was wearing a walking boot on his left ankle as he departed Pepsi Center Saturday.

The 22-year-old injured his ankle with less than a minute remaining in the first half of Denver’s one-point win over the Chicago Bulls on Thursday. On a drive to the basket, Jokic stepped on Jerian Grant‘s foot and immediately crumpled to the floor in pain. Jokic stayed on the court to attempt two free throws but then limped backed to the Nuggets’ locker room. He did not return to the game.

Jokic could be replaced in the Nuggets’ starting lineup by backup center Mason Plumlee, although Malone left the door open for Denver to go small with Kenneth Faried at center.

“I think Mason’s excited to play those extended minutes I’m sure for him playing 16 to 20 to 24 (minutes). He’d love to play a lot more,” Malone said. “He was a starter on a good playoff team in Portland, so this is an opportunity for him to go out there and get extended minutes whether he starts or comes off the bench to have a huge impact both offensively and defensively.”

Plumlee is averaging 16.9 minutes this season, which is seven minutes less per game than he played last year after Denver acquired him from Portland in February.

Trey Lyles and reserve forward Darrell Arthur, who’s only logged 19 total minutes this season, are also candidates for increased minutes in Jokic’s absence. Malone went out of his way to say Arthur could see the floor tonight versus the Lakers.

Richard Jefferson played a season-high 12 minutes against Chicago and will likely remain in Denver’s rotation for the time being.

Starting small forward Wilson Chandler, who’s been dealing with low back pain for the better part of the last two weeks, went through shootaround Saturday, and his condition is improving, according to Malone. Chandler is questionable for tonight’s matchup after missing the Nuggets’ last two games. It sounds like the injury is something Denver will have to keep an eye on for the foreseeable future.

“I think with that kind of injury it’s probably going to be a lot of management day-to-day,” Malone said. “What you don’t want and what’s probably in the back of Wilson’s mind is feeling better and I come back and suddenly I’m all the way back down again. I think he wants to get it to a point where he feels like he can play throughout and not just be in one game out the other because that’s hard for him, hard for the team. I think with that kind of injury its something we have to monitor throughout the season.”

Juancho Hernangomez drew the start at small forward against the Jazz and Bulls but has struggled defensively. Hernangomez scored seven points on 3-9 shooting in 28 minutes versus Utah and tallied just one point in 23 minutes against Chicago.

Nuggets host Lakers

The Lakers come to Pepsi Center losers of their last three in a row with their most recent defeat coming Wednesday night against the Golden State Warriors.

Los Angeles was able to push Golden State to overtime with standout performances from Brandon Ingram (32 points), and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Jordan Clarkson and Julius Randle, who all scored at least 20 points. Rookie Lonzo Ball also turned in one of his better performances of the season, scoring 15 points to go with 10 assists.

On the season, the Lakers rank 28th in offense but are fielding the league’s eighth-best defense.

Without Jokic, the Nuggets believe they’re still capable of running a lot of their offense through Plumlee, but more responsibility will fall on the shoulders of Denver’s two young point guards. Both Murray and Mudiay have been inconsistent to start the year.

“Let’s be honest, we need Jamal (Murray) and Emmanuel (Mudiay) to get going,” Malone said. “Those two are working their butts off, obviously they’re having a hard time getting it down the court right now, making shots, defending, whatever it may be. So we need both Jamal and Emmanuel to step up and help us out without our starting frontcourt who we play through extensively and expect a lot from.”

Murray shot just 1-9 from the field versus the Bulls and is mired in a shooting slump that’s seen him convert on just two of his last 22 attempts from three-point distance. Murray is shooting 42.4 percent from the field and 25.3 percent from distance through 21 games after opening the year 2-21 from three.

Mudiay is going through a slump as well after shooting the ball well to start the year. The third-year point guard is shooting 2-15 from three over his last five games and has committed 16 turnovers to just 12 assists.

Los Angeles forward Kyle Kuzma is expected to play versus Denver after missing their matchup against Golden State. Lakers coach Luke Walton said Kuzma went through shootaround and is probable for tonight.

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