Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic plans to return to action on Friday night against the Los Angeles Clippers at home after being sidelined since Dec. 29 with a bone bruise in his hyperextended left knee, sources told ESPN. Jokic is also set to play in Sunday's showdown against the Oklahoma City Thunder in Denver and be eligible for season awards such as MVP and All-NBA.
"One thing I don't want to see with Nikola is like, they started calling me 'injury prone' after that, but hopefully they don't start with him because it's one of those freak injuries that you can't really control," Durant said Thursday night after the Rockets beat the Nets 120-96 in his return to Brooklyn. "You can do all the work you can, but somebody falls into your knee, that's just tough."
Adebayo, 28, was upgraded to probable on Sunday when the injury report was officially disclosed. Jokic, a three-time MVP, and Adebayo have had some good battles over the years. During the 2023 NBA Finals, Jokic got the best of Adebayo, who was the Heat's best player. Though the Heat's three-time All-Star still averaged 21.8 points, 12.4 rebounds and 3.2 assists over that five-game series.
DENVER -- Nikola Jokic recorded a 56-point triple-double and set an NBA record with 18 points in overtime, leading the Denver Nuggets to a 142-138 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Thursday night. Jokic broke Stephen Curry's record of 17 overtime points from 2016, making it the highest by any player in regular season or NBA playoffs. Jokic added 16 rebounds and 15 assists and Jamal Murray scored 35 points.
"It felt like they had one foul with 5 minutes to go in the second quarter. And I just felt like both teams were playing so hard, extremely hard, physical," Adelman said. "I give the Rockets so much credit, they crashed the glass every time. And then we get two somewhat soft fouls on our best player -- which leads to him fouling twice that are fouls and that (makes) four fouls and he's got to come out of the game."
Nearly two months into the NBA season, surprise playoff contenders have emerged, shocking franchise drama has unfolded and a new class of rookies has already made an impact. The top of the 2025-26 Most Valuable Player race, however, should look quite familiar. For the sixth consecutive edition of ESPN's NBA MVP straw poll -- a poll of 100 media members that mimics the league's postseason award balloting -- voting has resulted in Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic
They've been buddies forever, but this was the first time Jokić paid attention to how his friend makes a living. Pavkov was in constant motion, going from his phone to his customers in the front of his shop to the back, where he oversaw a paint job for one of Jokić's sulkies, the two-wheeled, chariot-like vehicles that attach to Jokić's horses as they race around his track down the street.
Over the past week, 2K Games has been slowly revealing the top 100 rated players in NBA 2K26, and we finally have an answer as to who made it to No. 1 -- and it's exactly who you'd expect. Denver Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic is the top-rated player, with an OVR rating of 98. Here are the top 20 rated players in NBA 2K26 at launch:
