The Denver Nuggets have lost two starters in consecutive weeks, and now Aaron Gordon will miss at least a month with a hamstring strain he reaggravated on Friday.
Last week, it was Christian Braun who went down with an ankle sprain. The longtime ironman will likely miss the rest of the calendar year. Gordon, who partners with Braun in leading the Nuggets’ defense, suffered a grade 2 hamstring strain on his right leg. If this sounds familiar, it’s because Gordon suffered the same injury, a grade 2 hamstring strain, to his left leg toward the end of Game 6 in Round 2 last spring against the Oklahoma City Thunder. He played through the pain for Game 7, but it did not matter as the Nuggets were blown out. This one will set Gordon back four to six weeks, which puts him maybe just ahead of Braun’s timeline.
Now Denver will need to get by without two of their best players and, importantly, their two best defenders. At the time of Braun’s injury, the Nuggets were a top-five defensive team by rating. That’s already dropped to No. 14 as of Sunday morning. The Nuggets, who are 3-2 since Braun went down and lost the lone game both players missed, play at least 17 games before the calendar flips to 2026.
Gordon was having a torrid start to the season. A possible All-Star the way he was playing, the power forward was averaging a career high in points (18.8) and 3-point percentage (44.4%). He has been one of seven players to average 15 points on 50% shooting from the field, 40% from three and 85% from the free throw line. Gordon was also snagging five rebounds and tossing three assists a game.
Gordon missed Wednesday’s contest against the Pelicans as a precaution in managing his hamstring. He re-injured it on Friday, a few minutes into the Nuggets’ win against the Rockets. In Gordon’s place, two-way wing Spencer Jones started the second half in Houston after Gordon went down and then again for the game on Saturday against the Kings. The more logical replacement is Peyton Watson, but he was already starting in place of Braun.
The Nuggets have already brought DaRon Holmes II back up from the G League, so he may get some action. Likewise, the rarely played Hunter Tyson saw action on Saturday. Denver even dusted off Zeke Nnaji for a start on Wednesday. Jonas Valanciunas played his longest game alongside Nikola Jokic so far on Friday. All of this is to say, things are going to be funky for the Nuggets for the next month as they try to patch things together and are extremely limited on strong defensive options. Denver does have an open roster spot, if things get bleak.
