Nikola Jokic made his triumphant return to the court Friday after being out since Dec. 29 with a knee injury in the Denver Nuggets' 122-109 win over the Los Angeles Clippers. 

Jokic led the Nuggets with 31 points in 25 minutes while shooting 8-11 from the field along with 12 rebounds and five assists. The question now for Denver head coach David Adelman is how to manage Jokic's minutes with him so fresh off of a knee injury.

Jonas Valanciunas is a healthy and reliable second option at the center position to split minutes with Jokic and take some of the load off of the Serbian star while he gets his feet back under him, but Adelman stressed that the importance in balancing the minutes between the two centers comes down to communication from his players. 

"The game will demand something different... I just have to be in constant communication with people," Adelman said (via Nuggets). "Every four minutes is different from the last. There’s physical four minutes, no fouls called, you’re just getting up and down constantly. So, I just have to read the game as best as I can."

Jokic played the majority of the minutes between the two centers on Friday by a slim margin with 25 minutes while Valanciunas played 21 minutes and scored 11 points. It will be a balancing act as Adelman described that's dependent on the flow of any given game and the physicality that's present on the court. 

The last thing the Nuggets want to do is to push Jokic too hard too soon and risk the possibility of another injury as the season moves rapidly into it's final third.

The Nuggets put themselves into a good place with Jokic out, but he is obviously such a major aspect of the team's construction and having his skill and presence on the court does wonders for the Nuggets offense and stretches out the window that they're able to threaten teams offensively as the game marches on.

Denver improved to 33-16 with the win over the Clippers and own the third-best record in the Western Conference, only slightly behind the San Antonio Spurs.

Injuries have been a persistent issue for the Nuggets this season and had they not been so held down by having so many players out for various lengths, that record could be even better.

The return of Jokic means the Nuggets are one step closer to having their team at full strength and as long as they're able to keep him on the court the Nuggets will remain dangerous contenders not only in the Western Conference, but in the NBA as a whole.