The Denver Nuggets have dealt with as many pivotal injuries as any team in the league this season, but the general consensus has always been that they will remain afloat as long as they have Nikola Jokic. Hence, you can imagine the panic when Jokic went down in the second quarter of Monday’s 147-123 loss to the Miami Heat. 

Jokic didn’t return from the game, and the initial reaction from those in and around the franchise wasn’t necessarily encouraging. Following the game, Nuggets coach David Adelman did his best to provide an update for the situation while reconciling with the fact that catastrophic leg injuries appear to be all too normal in today’s game. 

“All I know is it's just a left knee injury,” Adelman said. “He has to go through the whole process of what it is. Watching it at halftime, it looked like his feet got tangled up with a teammate. And obviously, immediately, he knew something was wrong.

“This is part of the NBA. Anybody who gets hurt in this game, it's kind of gut-wrenching, especially somebody as special as he is. So we'll find out more tomorrow. We'll move on as a team.”

While the injury is obviously catastrophic for the Nuggets’ hopes of championship contention if Jokic can’t continue this season, the initial reporting on Tuesday morning suggests that Jokic avoided serious injury and suffered something closer to a basic hyperextension. Regardless, Adelman’s concern lies with his player and not with his team’s viability moving forward.

“Obviously, right now, I'm more concerned just about him as a person and the disappointment of going through something like that,” Adelman said. “So, it's unfortunate, hoping for the best, just like we did with Cam and the other starters that we've lost. So, you just have to stay with it as a team and as a group.

“Honestly, you have to stay with it as a team and a group, because that's how you best support your teammates that are out, by honoring them when you play. So we'll move on from there. Like I said, this is part of the NBA. It sucks, but hoping for the best tomorrow.”

Seeing a player like Jokic go down was also something that was a bit of a shell shock moment for his teammates. Adelman credited the way Miami came out hunting for blood in the third quarter, knowing the Nuggets were in a vulnerable position after their star went down. 

“I think for (the team), in the moment, it's a little bit of a shock,” Adelman said. “And then you have to understand the game's still going on. And I give Miami credit. I actually thought we came out with a lot of energy in the third quarter. They just could not miss. That was an unbelievable shooting performance by them in that quarter. 

“So yeah, these things happen. It's part of life. Unfortunate for us. But like I said, hoping for the best with the news. And we'll move forward with the guys we have that are healthy.”