On the latest edition of Locked on Nuggets, Ryan Blackburn and Swipa talked about the injury to Nikola Jokic, whether the Nuggets can hold onto the No.2 seed in the West and more.
“Jokic, elbow injury. What does this mean? How long will this linger? The Denver Nuggets, they lose 128 to 108 in Denver to the Houston Rockets off the back of a Jalen Green shooting masterclass who’s on a resurgence the last twenty games or so.”
“The Nuggets cannot win a championship unless Jamal Murray looks like what he did in the 2023 run. I don’t think there is any combination of things that could happen that’s like yeah, Murray wasn’t good but they still won a championship.”
“If Mike can’t generate more than four shot attempts against a team like the Rockets where he’s got Dillon Brooks guarding him, that’s going to be tough. It’s going to be tough, and I think it is pretty referential on the playoffs and how physical that game is going to be.”
“Porter has immense value. If I just do last three seasons with Jokic, he’s averaging seventeen and a half, six point four. But he’s shooting forty-nine, forty-two, eighty on a sixty-two true shooting. So that is a massive difference in efficiency.”
“I saw Jokic messing with his elbow, I think, in the Mavericks game live. You know, elbow injuries could be as little as nothing, and then they could also be something else. Until we find out more, there’s just no reason for me to speculate.”
“Jamal Murray’s ability to snake, find his target, get to mid-range, either hit that little fadeaway he likes to hit or get all the way down to paint and get a nice lay-in—it’s so impressive. But on top of that, his three-point shot, it’s continued to go up and up as the year goes on.”
“If Jamal does decide to fire it up, he honestly becomes one of the most unstoppable guard scorers in the NBA.”
“You probably won’t get to play versus the Pacers with no Tyrese Haliburton. You know, in the West, you’ve got to play through a lot of guys. So, for me, I want them to get as high of a seed as possible to get the most advantageous matchup and to get home-court advantage for as long as they can.”
“The question is how much of an issue and whether he can rise above that, whether he can continue to get better. I think he can. He’s still young enough and malleable enough that I think he can adapt to those situations and be all right.”
“If Nikola Jokic’s elbow injury turns out to be minor, the Nuggets should be able to rebound. But without Jokic, the road gets that much tougher.”
