Jokic sustains harrowing knee injury

LOS ANGELES (AFP) — Nikola Jokic suffered a “gut-wrenching” knee injury as the Denver Nuggets crashed to a heavy 123-147 defeat against the Miami Heat in the National Basketball Association (NBA) on Monday.

Three-time NBA Most Valuable Player Jokic exited in the final seconds of the first half of Denver’s loss in Miami after an accidental collision with teammate Spencer Jones.

The 30-year-old Serbian superstar collapsed to the court in agony after his left leg appeared to buckle after Jones stepped on his foot while attempting to defend a drive.

Jokic, who had scored 21 points, did not reappear for the second half and Miami capitalized to outscore the Nuggets 84-60 after the break to cruise to victory.

Nuggets coach David Adelman said the team had yet to determine the severity of Jokic’s injury. The center will undergo an MRI scan on Tuesday.

“All I know is that Jokic has a left knee injury and he needs to go through the process. I watched it at half-time and it looked like he got his feet tangled up. He knew immediately something was wrong,” Adelman said.

“This is part of the NBA. Anyone who gets hurt, it’s gut-wrenching. Especially someone as special as he is. We’ll find out more tomorrow and move on as a team.

“I’m more concerned about him as a person and the disappointment of going through something like that. It’s unfortunate and we’re hoping for the best... it sucks, but hoping for the best tomorrow.”

The Nuggets are already dealing with an injury crisis that has left them deprived of regular starters Aaron Gordon and Christian Braun.

In other NBA games on Monday, the Oklahoma City Thunder romped to a 140-129 win over the Atlanta Hawks to extend their lead at the top of the Western Conference.

The reigning NBA champions recovered from an early 10-point deficit in the second quarter thanks to 39 points from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

Chet Holmgren added 24 points and Jalen Williams 20 points on a night when six Thunder players finished in double figures.

Oklahoma City improved to 28-5 with the victory and lead the West by 4.5 games from the second-placed San Antonio Spurs, who suffered their second straight defeat on Monday in a 113-101 home reverse to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Elsewhere, Stephen Curry scored 27 points and Jimmy Butler added 21 as the Golden State Warriors overcame the Brooklyn Nets 120-107.