Nuggets' Nikola Jokic to miss 4 weeks with hyperextended knee - ESPN

MIAMI — Nikola Jokic is going to miss only a few weeks, which is surely cause for the Denver Nuggets to take a giant sigh of relief.

The Nuggets' superstar center has been diagnosed with a hyperextended left knee, the team said Tuesday, adding that the three-time MVP will be reevaluated in four weeks.

Jokic has a bone bruise in the hyperextended left knee as well, sources told ESPN's Shams Charania.

It's an obvious blow to the already shorthanded Nuggets — but is not a season-ending issue nor one that would require surgical repair. If Jokic misses a month, that means he would be sidelined for about 16 games but could be playing again before February's NBA All-Star Game.

The 6-foot-11 Jokic — considered by many to be the best player in the world right now — got hurt with about three seconds left in the first half of Denver's 147-123 loss in Miami on Monday night.

Jokic entered Tuesday ranked fifth in the NBA in scoring this season at 29.6 points per game, plus leads the league with averages of 12.2 rebounds and 11 assists per contest. The only other player in NBA history to average at least 12 rebounds and 11 assists over a full season was Oscar Robertson for the Cincinnati Royals in 1961-62.

«Obviously, it's part of the game,» Nuggets guard Jamal Murray said Monday night after the game — speaking before the team got the word on the severity of Jokic's injury. «But we never want to see it happen.… Next man up. We've got to focus on what's in here.»

Denver has five games left on a seven-game road trip, one that resumes Wednesday when the Nuggets visit the Toronto Raptors.

Jokic was alone under the basket and appeared to step forward to help Denver's Spencer Jones defend a drive by Miami's Jaime Jaquez Jr. as time was about