DENVER — Aaron Gordon’s late scratch wasn’t only a bad sign for the star power forward’s all-important health, it was an omen for how rough of a health night the Denver Nuggets were going to have.
Gordon didn’t play due to calf tightness, then all of Spencer Jones, Cameron Johnson and Zeke Nnaji left Sunday’s 116-93 runaway win against the Warriors with none returning to action. Johnson battled his back spasms back onto the bench but was never needed down the stretch. Jones left with a hamstring issue. Nnaji left the arena on crutches with a hip impingement.
It’s just another chapter in the Nuggets’ long struggles with injuries this year, which has limited Gordon to 32 games; the team has only had its go-to rotation for about a dozen games.
But they keep winning — make it six in a row.
Denver improved to 48-28 on the season as they keep fighting for the third seed in the West. The Nuggets rallied from down seven at the half — and then turned the game into something entirely different.
“It’s good to have a game like that that you win, where you can look back at and say the importance of playing hard defensively the first half is why you have a chance to win the game,” coach David Adelman said. “Really down seven when you’re not playing well, knowing that we can drop 70-80 in a half — just bottom line.”
Six Nuggets finished in double figures despite the revolving door in the training room. Nikola Jokic led the way with 25 points, 15 rebounds and 8 assists. Jamal Murray added 20, Tim Hardaway Jr. 16, Bruce Brown 15, Christian Braun 12 and Peyton Watson 10.
The third quarter was the story. After spending the first half watching Golden State’s transition game punish them — Gary Payton II was a nuisance, Kristaps Porzingis and Brandin Podziemski each had 23 points by the end of the night — the Nuggets came out of the locker room and just cooked. Denver shot 60.9 percent from the field and 57.1 percent from three in the third, outscoring Golden State 40-21 to push a deficit into a 12-point lead by the buzzer.
It was the team’s second time out-scoring a foe by 19 or more in a quarter since December, yet another sign things are getting on track so long as the injuries don’t derail.
Hardaway was again the spark plug. He poured in 10 of his 16 points in the third quarter alone, “converting a four-point play and adding another three-pointer as the Nuggets went on a sustained scoring run. He finished 4-for-8 from deep on the night.
“Trying to stay with the game plan as much as possible,” Adelman said. “I told them that in the locker room after the game — sometimes the game plan may not work and we adjust, but you have to at least give the effort to what we said we’re going to try to accomplish. Tonight, that’s what the guys did.”
The bench chipped in meaningfully throughout. Brown’s 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting, including three triples, were critical in keeping the second unit competitive while the rotation kept shrinking and changing. Julian Strawther contributed seven points and four assists in 17 minutes of the second half, and late-game mop-up work from DaRon Holmes II produced 5 points in under two minutes. Even Jonas Valanciunas played for the first time in nearly two weeks. Everyone was ready.
That includes Zeke.
The mostly bench-riding big has stayed professional about his lack of playing time, according to all. He got real minutes Sunday with Johnson going down early and played with enough fight to go at a few Warriors in their face. Then he left in the third quarter with a hip impingement and eventually departed on crutches.
“Zeke has been so good this year in a role that could be very frustrating,” Adelman said. “He has been just a pro all year. You can tell when someone means what they’re saying and when they don’t. And Zeke has been nothing but honest all year about his approach. That’s why, like tonight — Aaron’s late scratch, all the things happened — and he was ready to go. I feel bad for him. He finally gets a chance to play, and then he gets hurt. But I’ve been proud of Zeke all season.”
The defense held Golden State to 40 second-half points — 21 in the third quarter, 19 in the fourth — a performance Adelman said mirrors what the Nuggets want to look like come April, as the team closed the book on an 11-5 March.
“In today’s NBA, giving up 56 in a half is not that bad — that’s actually arguably the best defense in the NBA,” Adelman said. “40 is absurdly great. Love to have that every night.”
But the Warriors themselves have succumb to the NBA’s grueling schedule, without Steph Curry, Jimmy Butler, Al Horford and Moses Moody. So they won’t feel much sympathy for Adelman’s next line, but it does reflect what both teams are going through.
“There was a timeout where I just looked back at my day,” he said. “I woke up this morning thinking Aaron Gordon was gonna start, he didn’t. And then Spence goes out, and then Cam goes out. And I thought Zeke was really back full. Then he went out.”
Seeking the No. 3 seed
The Nuggets have six games left to get the No. 3 seed by passing the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers will need to lose three of their final eight games in order to given Denver a shot at that spot. In that scenario, the Nuggets would need to win six more games in a row, in order to pass the Lakers, who have the tiebreaker over Denver.
What’s next for the Nuggets?
Denver has a light week, traveling to Utah on Wednesday, then hosting the Spurs in a big-time West showdown on Saturday.