Heat Star Bam Adebayo Praises Nikola Jokic After Nuggets Loss

The Denver Nuggets suffered their second consecutive loss on Monday night, falling on the road to the Miami Heat by 24 points. This marked the Nuggets' biggest loss of the season and created their first losing streak, but the loss itself was not the worst thing to happen during the game.

Nuggets superstar center and three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic went down with a scary knee injury during the second quarter.

Nobody is allowed to exhale until the MRI results this morning, but it sounds like Nikola Jokic may have avoided major injury. That could change based on imaging but they’re hoping it’s just a bone bruise. Either way, @nuggets are suddenly minus four starters. Discussing now on… pic.twitter.com/61mYEFPI4B
— Vic Lombardi (@VicLombardi) December 30, 2025

After the game, Heat star Bam Adebayo praised Jokic for being a good competitor and wished him well after the injury.

"It's always fun playing against [Jokic]," Adebayo said. "You see how he makes his teammates better, you see the greatness. One thing I like about it is its competition at the end of the day. He's one of those guys who don't really flop [foul-bait], and I truly respect that. But it's respect at the end of the day. Obviously, you hate to see guys go out. You've got to figure out how you can keep your team's foot on the gas."

Bam Adebayo on his matchup with Nikola Jokic

"Its always fun playing against him. You see the greatness. One thing i like about it is its competition at the end of the day. Hes one of those guys thats don't really flop/foul bait and I truly respect that. You hate to see guys go… pic.twitter.com/ffTHKE1KFO
— Heat Central (@HeatCulture13) December 30, 2025

Jokic's greatness

Even as a competitor, it is easy to recognize Jokic's "greatness," as Adebayo puts it. Before exiting the game with his knee injury, Jokic finished with 21 points, five rebounds, and eight assists on 9-14 shooting in just 19 minutes. Even though Jokic did not touch the floor in the second half, he finished as Denver's leading scorer on the night.

On the season, Jokic is averaging 29.6 points, 12.2 rebounds, and 11.0 assists per game with 60.5/43.5/85.3 shooting splits. As the Nuggets now sit at 22-10 and in third place in the West, they likely cannot afford for Jokic to be sidelined for too long.

The Nuggets are already playing without Aaron Gordon, Christian Braun, and Cam Johnson, so missing the best player in the world on top of that would be devastating. Jokic has never missed more than 13 games in a season, and the Nuggets are certainly hoping that this is not the year that he passes that mark. It is no secret that Jokic carries this Nuggets team, and they could be lost without him.

Jokic's greatness

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