Denver Nuggets star center Nikola Jokic was ruled out for Tuesday night’s game against the Memphis Grizzlies, marking his third consecutive absence due to personal reasons.
Jokic, a 7-foot, three-time MVP, leads the Nuggets in points (29.7), rebounds (13.7), and assists (11.7). Denver has suffered two straight losses without him, falling to New Orleans on Friday and Memphis on Sunday.
The Nuggets are in Memphis for a second game before heading back to Denver.
Head coach Michael Malone was uncertain about Jokic’s availability for Friday’s home game against Dallas. “I have no idea about Friday,” Malone remarked in his pregame comments on Tuesday. “Obviously, there’s no news out of Denver, so we’ll revisit that when we get home.”
The Nuggets have faced challenges in Jokic’s absence. In Sunday’s loss, Memphis outpaced Denver on the boards, including 10 offensive rebounds, while the Nuggets committed 15 turnovers and shot just 41.7%. Denver is also missing forward Aaron Gordon, another key contributor to their offense.
Malone emphasized the need for the team to play harder in Jokic’s absence, stating, “We shouldn’t play in a different way. Obviously, you don’t have a three-time MVP, but we have to play more physical. That should be the case whether Nikola is on the court or not.”
