Nikola Jokic smiled Thursday when asked about getting battered and bruised over the course of a long NBA season. So there’s that.
In fact, the Nuggets came across as fairly jovial on the whole following practice early Thursday afternoon at Ball Arena, despite having to wait out which opponent they’ll face — it’ll be the winner of Friday’s play-in game in Minneapolis between Minnesota and Oklahoma City — in their NBA Playoffs opener late Sunday night.
“Doing good, going good,” Jokic, the reigning two-time NBA MVP, said of his calf tightness, which had forced him to sit out the regular-season finale at home against Sacramento last Sunday.
When asked whether the injury still lingered in his mind, the Serbian center was a little more cryptic.
“I mean, it’s there,” he replied. “But (it’s) … sometimes good and sometimes bad.”
And the wrist you recently had taped up?
“Yeah, (it was taped) a little bit, just trying to prevent (problems),” Jokic responded, then grinned. “Little bumps and bruises.”
Unlike the last two springs, the Nuggets aren’t entering the postseason with major bumps and bruises sapping their star power. Despite a nagging thumb problem, guard Jamal Murray is line to make his first postseason appearance in a Nuggets jersey in nearly three years and his first at home in roughly four years after recovering from knee surgery.
And wing man Michael Porter Jr., who missed 2022’s (brief) postseason run while recovering from back surgery, said Thursday that he felt “pretty prepared” for the Nuggets’ playoff tests this month.
After being without his two most reliable shooters last April in Murray and MPJ, Jokic sounded excited to see what Denver’s roster is capable of now that it’s reasonably healthy entering a postseason for the first time since the Orlando Bubble in 2020.
“(Now) we can see, ‘Are we capable (of) doing something when we are completely healthy?’” the Joker pondered. “I think every year (in recent history), we’ve missed one or two guys. So hopefully, this year, we’re going to be healthy.”
As for their first dance partner, Jokic admitted he hadn’t watched the 10th-seeded Thunder eliminate the ninth-seeded Pelicans in New Orleans on Wednesday night. But he planned to keep an eye on Oklahoma City’s visit to the Twin Cities on Friday.
The Nuggets went 2-2 in four regular-season meetings against the Wolves this season (2-0 at home, 0-2 on the road) and 3-1 vs. Oklahoma City. All three of the Nuggets’ wins against OKC came before Thanksgiving and the Thunder’s only victory came at Ball Arena, snapping the Nuggets’ nine-game streak back on Jan. 22.
“I think they both fit really good against us,” Jokic recalled when asked about the two potential playoff foes. “Every game, it was a tough one and a close one. So we will see.”
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