The Denver Nuggets and the Oklahoma City Thunder are going at it in a battle between two of the best teams in the Western Conference on Sunday. After a hot start from the Nuggets, the Thunder stormed back to take a 74-64 lead in the third quarter.
The Nuggets unfortunately lost a key piece of their rotation early in this game. Starting forward Aaron Gordon left the game in the first quarter with right calf tightness and is questionable to return, according to the team in a post on social media.
After the second half got going, Gordon's status got even worse. He is still officially questionable but is unlikely to return according to Tony Jones of The Athletic.
Gordon has been dealing with a calf injury or much of the season, and it appears that the same issue has popped up again as the Nuggets start to make their final push towards the playoffs. In order to reach their full potential, however, the Nuggets will need Gordon to be fully healthy and playing at 100% if they want to make a run at their second championship in three years.
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Gordon's calf kept him out for almost the entire month of November and forced him to miss some more time at the start of January. Now, it seems as if it has flared up again and it's worth wondering if the Nuggets should consider resting him for an extended period to get him healthy for the postseason.
The Nuggets have had no shortage of injuries to deal with this season. Peyton Watson recently returned from a lengthy absence due to a knee injury and Russell Westbrook is also back in the lineup after sitting out with a hamstring injury.
Gordon has been the glue that holds this Nuggets lineup together over the years. He is a perfect complement to Nikola Jokic due to his ability to cut to the basket and finish when he gets there, and he can also guard some bigger wings on the perimeter while Christian Braun handles the smaller guard assignments.
The Nuggets should be in the pole position to get the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference after the injury to LeBron James on Saturday night, but this injury could change that in a big way.