Nuggets All-Star Nikola Jokić has missed four straight games, but coach Michael Malone says the center will play in Denver sometime after Monday.

Nikola Jokic, who has been sidelined due to left ankle impingement, plans to return "at some point" during the Nuggets' upcoming five-game homestand, coach Michael Malone said Sunday.

Denver is forced to attempt to snap a two-game skid without Jokic against a Rockets team riding a nine-game win streak. The Nuggets are just 3-5 in their last eight games and just 7-8 since going on a nine-game win streak in February. They are still 44-27 on the year but have fallen to third in the Western Conference.

This is a huge game for the Houston Rockets. In the micro, a win tonight would give Houston their tenth straight win. In the macro, it would move Houston to three games above the Denver Nuggets and give them the tiebreaker for the season series.

In this case the only thing that ended was the Rockets winning streak. They had won 9 in a row, though they played with fire, coming back from 25 points down to beat the 76ers. Despite giving up a game in the standing to Denver,