Denver was dealt an unexpected blow an hour before opening tip Wednesday when Nikola Jokic was ruled out due to right elbow inflammation.

The Denver Nuggets received two important updates on Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray ahead of Friday's matchup with the Heat.

Nikola Jokic was ruled out for the game with an elbow injury shortly before tip-off. In his postgame press conference Nuggets head coach Mike Malone said the three-time NBA MVP suffered the injury in warmups. He claimed it "popped up last minute." Malone had no word on how serious the injury could be as he hadn't spoken to trainers yet.

Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic and forward Aaron Gordon are not playing in the team's home game against the Houston Rockets on Wednesday night.Jokic injured his elbow during warmups and was ruled out before the start of the game while Gordon is out due to right calf injury management.

Going into Wednesday night, the anticipation between the Denver Nuggets game against the Houston Rockets was huge. Both teams are on a four-game winning streak

The Nuggets got some bad news prior to Wednesday's game against the Rockets. Not only was Aaron Gordon ruled out with right calf injury management an hour before Denver hosted Houston in a battle of top-four teams in the Western Conference,