{"id":701456,"date":"2026-04-06T14:49:28","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T14:49:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/701456\/"},"modified":"2026-04-06T14:49:28","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T14:49:28","slug":"nuggets-make-huge-aaron-gordon-decision-before-blazers-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/701456\/","title":{"rendered":"Nuggets Make Huge Aaron Gordon Decision Before Blazers Game"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\t\t<img width=\"780\" height=\"439\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Copy-of-1920-41.png\" class=\"attachment-featured-image size-featured-image wp-post-image\" alt=\"Aaron Gordon\"   decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>Aaron Gordon of the Denver Nuggets has been plagued by a hamstring issue this season.<\/p>\n<p>One of the most important players for the <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nba\/denver-nuggets\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Denver Nuggets<\/a> is <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/nba\/player\/aaron-gordon\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Aaron Gordon<\/a>, who has been plagued by hamstring injuries this season.<\/p>\n<p>Fresh off an overtime win over the <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nba\/san-antonio-spurs\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">San Antonio Spurs<\/a> on Saturday, the Nuggets welcome the <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nba\/portland-trail-blazers\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Portland Trail Blazers<\/a> to the Ball Arena on Monday night.<\/p>\n<p>Gordon has been limited to just 34 games this season after a couple of right hamstring strain injuries. He gave Denver a scare on March 29 after waking up with a sore right hamstring, but he has played in the team\u2019s last two games.<\/p>\n<p>The 30-year-old forward played 28 minutes and scored six points in the Nuggets\u2019 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.landofbasketball.com\/box_scores\/2026\/0401DENUTA.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer external nofollow\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">130-117<\/a> win over the <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nba\/utah-jazz\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Utah Jazz<\/a>. He was on the floor for 41 minutes versus San Antonio, dropping 15 points, including the basket that sent the game to overtime.<\/p>\n<p>The Nuggets outlasted the Spurs, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.landofbasketball.com\/box_scores\/2026\/0404SASDEN.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer external nofollow\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">136-134<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Gordon Available For Blazers Game<\/p>\n<p>In a surprising twist, the Nuggets are feeling confident about Gordon\u2019s health after he played 41 minutes in their previous game. He is not on the team\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/nuggets\/status\/2040916403424010513\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer external nofollow\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">injury report<\/a> for the Blazers matchup, which means he\u2019s going to start in the crucial game.<\/p>\n<p>With the <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nba\/los-angeles-lakers\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Los Angeles Lakers<\/a> barely clinging to the No. 3 seed, the Nuggets can extend their win streak to nine and get ahead in the standings. The Lakers are set to play the rest of the regular season without <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/nba\/player\/luka-doncic\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Luka Doncic<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/nba\/player\/austin-reaves\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Austin Reaves<\/a>, so Denver has a chance to earn a higher seed for the playoffs.<\/p>\n<p>Despite Gordon\u2019s availability, the Nuggets can\u2019t shake the injury bug. <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/nba\/player\/peyton-watson\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Peyton Watson<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/nba\/player\/spencer-jones\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Spencer Jones<\/a>, who have been vital to the team\u2019s success this season, are both out due to a right hamstring strain.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/nba\/player\/zeke-nnaji\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Zeke Nnaji<\/a> is questionable because of a sprained left hip, while <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/nba\/player\/bruce-brown\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Bruce Brown Jr.<\/a> is probable with a left ankle sprain. Brown will likely get upgraded to available before tip-off.<\/p>\n<p>David Adelman Explains Why Gordon\u2019s Minutes Restriction Was Lifted<\/p>\n<p>Gordon was not supposed to play 41 minutes against the Spurs. He was still under minutes restriction, but coach David Adelman decided to extend his playing time because of how important he was to the Nuggets\u2019 chances of winning.<\/p>\n<p>The Arizona product came up clutch, scoring the game-tying basket toward the end of regulation and getting the stop on <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/nba\/player\/victor-wembanyama\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Victor Wembanyama<\/a> to force overtime.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Copy-of-1920-42.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5884916\" class=\"size-full wp-image-5884916\" data-lazy-load=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Copy-of-1920-42.png\" alt=\"Aaron Gordon\" width=\"780\" height=\"439\"  \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-5884916\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">GettyAaron Gordon #32 of the Denver Nuggets dunks the ball as Victor Wembanyama #1 of the San Antonio Spurs looks on during the fourth quarter at Ball Arena on April 4, 2026 in Denver, Colorado.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking to reporters after the game, Adelman explained why he had to give Gordon full rotational minutes against San Antonio.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI mean, no rules in overtime,\u201d Adelman said, via <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nba\/nuggets\/onsi\/news\/david-adelman-heaps-praise-aaron-gordon-after-nuggets-spurs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer external nofollow\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Jared Koch of Sports Illustrated<\/a>. \u201cYeah, he went past what we wanted. We\u2019ll have to see where he\u2019s at. That was part of the reason we were switching a lot early even though sometimes it didn\u2019t go well with Wemby.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Adelman added that not being in foul trouble helped Gordon clamp down on the Spurs late in the game.<\/p>\n<p>With the West still wide-open in the playoffs, the Nuggets need Gordon to remain healthy to increase their chances of winning another <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nba\/\" title=\"NBA\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"216321\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">NBA<\/a> championship.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/author\/paolodavid99\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Juan Paolo David<\/a> Juan Paolo David is a sports journalist covering basketball for Heavy. He has a decade of experience writing about the NBA and WWE. He&#8217;s currently based in the Philippines.  <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/author\/paolodavid99\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">More about Juan Paolo David<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Nuggets\n\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Aaron Gordon of the Denver Nuggets has been plagued by a hamstring issue this season. One of&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":701457,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3784],"tags":[7,601,6,687,471,3967,1617],"class_list":{"0":"post-701456","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-portland-trail-blazers","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-blazers","10":"tag-nba","11":"tag-portland","12":"tag-portland-trail-blazers","13":"tag-portlandtrailblazers","14":"tag-trail-blazers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116358321712313762","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/701456","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=701456"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/701456\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/701457"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=701456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=701456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=701456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}