It looks like another sleepless night for Nuggets coach Michael Malone.

Not only did his Nuggets (22) lose for the second straight night – this time a 122-110 loss to the Jazz — Nikola Jokic, last season’s Most Valuable Player, bumped knees with Utah center Rudy Gobert late in the second quarter. Jokic went down, clutching his right knee and was helped back to the locker room. He returned to the court at halftime, appearing to test out his mobility but did not return to the game.

Jokic made 8 of his 9 shots,

including all three of his 3-point attempts, and finished with a team-high 24 points, six rebounds and six assists in 15 minutes.

“What makes him so hard to guard is his ability to play literally everywhere on the court,” Malone said pregame. “Most centers don’t do that. Most centers are not going initiate offense and play pick and rolls as the (ball) handler. Most centers are not getting involved in catch-and-shoot (actions) as a scorer. They’re usually the guy setting the screen, so I think it’s different for Rudy, guarding a guy like Nikola, because Nikola’s just so different.”

Gobert led the Jazz to a 3-0 start to the season with 23 points and 16.

Will Barton III scored 16 of his 21 points in the third quarter, leading the Nuggets to a three-point advantage late in the period. With Jokic out, the Jazz found success inside paint in the fourth quarter, as Gobert and Hassan Whiteside helped the hosts take a 12-point lead inside the final five minutes.

Malone was already coming off one night of tossing and turning for much different reasons after Monday’s loss to the Cavaliers.

“I couldn’t sleep last night,” Malone said. I had visions of all of our turnovers against Cleveland, and I had visions of all the 3s that Utah’s going to shoot tonight.”

The Nuggets will have a couple of days to rest up before starting another backto-back Friday against Dallas at Ball Arena before Saturday’s game at Minnesota.