Nuggets to be without Jokic in rematch vs. Suns

Good news for the Denver Nuggets in the aftermath of their win Thursday night also proved to be good news for the Phoenix Suns on the eve of their rematch at Talking Stick Resort Arena on Saturday night.

Nuggets standout center Nikola Jokic suffered what appeared to be a serious hip injury in the final two minutes of Thursday's 127-120 victory. He'd already contributed 29 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists to the win.

However, x-rays taken after the game revealed nothing more than a bruise, and Jokic underwent an MRI on Friday that revealed a hip strain. He is expected to be fine after a game or two off.

That also was good news for the Suns, who won't have to deal with the second-year star in Saturday's back end of the home-and-home sequence.

"He's been playing out of this world for us -- our best player," Nuggets backup Will Barton insisted to reporters after Thursday's win. "It would be tough to see him go down for a long time. I'm just happy he's fine."

Jusuf Nurkic, who began the season as the Nuggets' first-string center, is expected to replace Jokic in the starting lineup.

Jokic won't be easy to replace. He is one of just five players -- along with Russell Westbrook, DeMarcus Cousins, Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Davis -- to be averaging at least 20 points and 10 rebounds in January.

Denver, which has rallied into the No. 8 playoff position in the West, is 11-8 when Jokic starts at center. They are 9-17 when he doesn't.

Two of the latter nine wins came with Nurkic starting at center in November games against the Suns. The third-year big man contributed a total of eight points, 12 rebounds and six assists to those wins.

The Nuggets will be looking to sweep the four-game season series Saturday.

If the Suns are to turn things around, chances are they're going to need improvement in two major areas of concern from Thursday night -- rebounding and free-throw shooting.

Led by Jokic, the Nuggets enjoyed a 46-28 advantage on the boards. They also outscored Phoenix 30-14 on free throws.

As usual, guards Eric Bledsoe (28 points) and Devin Booker (24) paved the way offensively for the Suns in the loss. They combined to make 12 of their 15 free throws.

The remainder of the Phoenix roster went a combined 2-for-2 from the line.

"Rebounds, minus-18 for the game; minus-18 at the free throw line," Suns coach Earl Watson, a former Nuggets player, lamented to reporters after the game. "Those are numbers you can't overcome, but we still had a chance to win."

The Suns have lost two in a row after winning two straight, and they've dropped their last two at home. But they've proven dangerous at times of late, having swept the two-game season series from Toronto and beaten San Antonio in Mexico City in the past month.

Other than Denver wins, the clubs' first three meetings had something else in common -- high point totals.

The Nuggets scored 120 or more in all three games. The Suns averaged 113 in defeat.

Those numbers are consistent with the teams' season totals. Denver ranks 28th in the league (out of 30) in scoring defense at 111.1 points allowed per game. Phoenix is even worse -- 29th at 111.8.