Denver Nuggets MVP center Nikola Jokic left Tuesday night’s game with a knee contusion after colliding with Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert.
Jokic underwent testing on Wednesday, and that revealed no structural damage in his right knee.
The Nuggets lost 122-110 at Utah.
The Denver Post reported Jokic’s knee was sore on Wednesday morning, but it appears the star center has avoided a major injury.
Gobert was attempting to drive on Jokic along the baseline when the two players banged knees.
Jokic immediately went down and appeared to be in a lot of pain as he held his knee on the ground.
After leaving the game with 1:54 left in the second quarter, Jokic was listed as questionable to return by the team.
However, while warming up at halftime, head coach Michael Malone talked to his center and then made the call to keep him sidelined for the remainder of the game.
“He said it feels a little weak, and I just shut him down,” Malone said after the loss. “I took the decision; it’s not his decision to make.”
Malone later added: “What I have learned about Nikola is, if you leave it up to Nikola, he is going to play every game. So, sometimes I have to make decisions for him, and it makes no sense for me when he told me it feels a little weak for him to play in the second half. And that is for any player. … It just didn’t make any sense to have Nikola go out there for a second night of a back-to-back and the risk of any further damage.”
Denver is already without star Jamal Murray, who is recovering from a torn ACL suffered in April.
Jokic won his first MVP award last season and was off to a hot start to this year.
He had 24 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists and made 8 of 9 shots in 15 minutes in the first half against Utah.
Jokic went into Tuesday’s game averaging 27.7 points, 16.0 rebounds, and 4.0 assists.
