Nikola Jokic Makes NBA History in Return From Long Injury Absence

The Denver Nuggets picked up a huge win over the red-hot L.A. Clippers on Friday night, although pulling out the victory over their Western Conference rival was not the highlight of the night. Three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic returned to action on Friday night after missing 16 straight games with a knee injury, and he returned with an emphatic statement.

In his first game action in a month, Jokic dropped 31 points, 12 rebounds, and five assists on 8-11 shooting from the field, 2-3 from beyond the arc, and 13-17 from the free-throw line. Keep in mind, Jokic did all of this while being limited to just 25 minutes of action.

With this performance, Jokic became the first player in NBA history to record 30 or more points, ten or more rebounds, and five or more assists while playing 25 minutes or less in a game.

Nikola Jokić Returns, Denver Secures W!

🃏 31 PTS
🃏 12 REB
🃏 5 AST

He's the first player in NBA history to record 30+ PTS, 10+ REB, and 5+ AST while playing less than 25 MIN in a game 🤯 pic.twitter.com/CTPUCD3Pbw
— NBA (@NBA) January 31, 2026

Jokic cements his MVP case

One reason why Jokic's return on Friday was such a big deal is that he stays eligible for MVP and All-NBA. For the rest of the season, Jokic can only miss one more game before he becomes ineligible for the end-of-season awards, and as long as he stays above that 65-game threshold, it will be hard to keep the MVP trophy out of his hands.

However, Jokic says he did not take this into consideration when returning on Friday.

"Not even a little bit," Jokic said when he was asked if staying eligible for MVP was important to him.

Jokic showed that he can make an MVP-caliber impact while on a minute restriction, putting together a historic statistical performance against a title contender after not playing for a month.

Sunday's game against MVP frontrunner Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the OKC Thunder will certainly be Jokic and Denver's biggest test, but having him healthy and back on the floor will be a significant matchup for the MVP race.

Jokic speaks on his return from injury

Jan 23, 2026; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (15) during warmups prior to the game against the Milwaukee Bucks at Fiserv Forum. | Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images

"I feel good," Jokic said after the game. "I feel good out there. I think I did a really good job with recovery, really good to prepare myself."

Jokic gave a special shoutout to his recovery staff, who have been with him for years, and they obviously helped him recover incredibly if this is how he performs in his first game back. Of course, though, when he first went down, many people feared that the injury was much worse than a hyperextension, and even Jokic admitted that he was scared.

"I was scared, of course, but I think whatever I do, I do it with honesty," Jokic continued. "I put work into preparing my body. I know the bad things aren't supposed to happen to those people who really give 100% of themselves. I kind of knew in the back of my head that it's nothing serious, but I was a little bit scared."

This was Jokic's longest injury absence of his 11-year NBA career, but he handled it very well. Now that he is back on the floor, the Nuggets can get back to what they are used to, although the Jokic-less team handled themselves very well. The Nuggets were 10-6 in 16 games without Jokic, staying toward the top of the West in his absence.

"A lot of players stepped up, a lot of big moments, big nights," Jokic said about his teammates while he was sidelined. "I was proud of them. They really stepped up and fought with a lot of people banged up and injured. It was really good to see them play really good."

Even though the Nuggets were winning games without him, the team is certainly relieved to see him back on the floor, especially after witnessing his historic performance on Friday night.

Jokic cements his MVP case

Jokic speaks on his return from injury

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