DENVER (AP) — Nikola Jokic is listed as questionable on the injury report for Friday night’s game against the Los Angeles Clippers, setting up the possibility the Denver Nuggets center plays for the first time since suffering a knee injury on Dec. 29.
Jokic has missed 16 games since limping off the floor just before halftime at Miami. He was diagnosed with a hyperextended left knee, with the Nuggets saying at the time the three-time NBA MVP would be re-evaluated in four weeks. ESPN first reported the plan for Jokic to play Friday.
The knee injury interrupted one of Jokic’s finest seasons. He’s averaging 29.6 points, 12.2 rebounds and 11 assists while shooting a career-best 43.5% from 3-point range.
His return Friday would help keep him eligible for major individual NBA awards this season. Should he play all the remaining games, he would finish with 66. He needs to appear in 65 of Denver’s 82 games to be eligible for most awards like MVP and All-NBA.
The 30-year-old Jokic has finished first or second in the MVP balloting in each of the last five seasons.
Jokic was hurt against the Heat when teammate Spencer Jones stepped on his left foot. The center from Serbia fell to the floor and grabbed at his knee before limping toward the locker room.
Denver has gone 10-6 in his absence.
Jokic’s return would be a boost for a Nuggets team that just lost Aaron Gordon after the high-flying forward reinjured his right hamstring. Gordon is expected to be out at least a month. Christian Braun (left ankle) and Cameron Johnson (right knee) remain sidelined.
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