NEW ORLEANS — Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic will not play against the Pelicans on Friday night due to personal reasons, according to the team’s injury report. Jokic was ruled out Friday around noon after being listed as questionable on Thursday.

But if the Nuggets want to use him as a center in future games without Jokic, it’ll only exacerbate one of the characteristics they miss most about their MVP: rebounding. The Pelicans killed Denver on the glass, regardless of what lineups Adelman tried.