Nikola Jokić didn’t waste any time picking up where he left off after missing 16 games due to a knee injury, leading the Denver Nuggets to a 122-109 win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday night.

After putting up 31 points, 12 rebounds and five assists in 25 minutes, Jokić told reporters “I was not scared” about using the knee in a real game once he got on the court.

“I was not scared to use [the knee],” the three-time NBA MVP said. “I was not thinking about it while I was running and while I was playing. I think that’s a good sign I’m ready.”

One thing that Jokić did say was that not playing for so long was a new experience for him.

“It was a new thing for me,” Jokić said. ‘I was getting nervous because I didn’t know the steps. I didn’t know what I was supposed to do, what I was supposed to feel. It was a different kind of nervous.”

Jokić suffered a hyperextended left knee when teammate Spencer Jones stepped on his foot, causing his leg to bend awkwardly, in the second quarter of Denver’s loss to the Miami Heat on Dec. 29.

The Nuggets announced the following day Jokić would be re-evaluated in four weeks. He wound up missing 16 games, marking the longest absence of his 11-year NBA career.

Even playing on a minutes restriction against the Clippers, Jokić very much looked like the player who was arguably the MVP frontrunner prior to the injury. He scored 31 points on just 11 field-goal attempts by getting to the free-throw line 17 times.

Friday was the 12th time in 33 starts that Jokić has recorded at least 30 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in a game. He is averaging a triple-double with 29.7 points, 12.2 rebounds and 10.8 assists per game this season.

Considering that the Nuggets were able to go 10-6 in the 16 games without Jokić, his return and dominant performance against a Clippers that had won 16 of their previous 19 games is bad news for the rest of the Western Conference.

The Nuggets are essentially tied with the San Antonio Spurs for the No. 2 seed in the West. They are only five games behind the Oklahoma City Thunder for the top spot.