Nuggets get brutal injury news about Aaron Gordon

The bad injury news with the Denver Nuggets just keeps on coming, and this time it’s a setback for their starting power forward, Aaron Gordon.

The fan favorite will miss another four-to-six weeks with a right hamstring strain, according to ESPN. It’s a reaggravation of the same injury that kept him off the court the entire month of December.

Gordon, who strained his left hamstring late in Game 6 of Round 2 in the NBA Playoffs last spring, has only played in 23 games this season as he’s dealt with recurring issues in his legs. His initial hamstring injury happened on Nov. 21, and he did not return until Jan. 4. He came back right after Nikola Jokic’s injury when the Nuggets were at their most banged up. Gordon played an effective 10 games this month, missing a few for maintenance, before then getting injured again last Friday.

Gordon appeared to tweak his hamstring late in the second quarter of Denver’s 102-100 win over the Milwaukee Bucks and did not return for the second half. Head coach David Adelman said after the game that Gordon was optimistic it wasn’t as severe as the first time around, but testing revealed otherwise.

“I feel for him,” Adelman said. “He’s optimistic it’s not as bad as it was, the last one. But we won’t know until we get it actually tested.”

When Gordon has been available, he’s been excellent. He’s averaging a career-high 17.7 points per game along with 6.2 rebounds and 2.5 assists while shooting 50.9% from the field and 40.0% from 3-point range. He opened the season with a 50-point explosion, signaling he was primed for a monster campaign before injuries derailed it.

This timeline puts Gordon’s return somewhere around late next month at the earliest, meaning he’ll miss Denver’s jam-packed February, besides the All-Star break. He could be out longer if the team prioritizes caution, meaning the Nuggets may have a very short runway with him before the playoffs begin.

The Nuggets are dealing with a similar situation to Christian Braun, who returned from an ankle injury around the same time as Gordon and has been out dealing with the same injury after just three games. They’ll likely be careful with each of them.

The Nuggets have already been without Jokic since Dec. 29 due to a bone bruise in his left knee, and his return timeline remains uncertain, with the latest report sharing another reevaluation early next week.

Cameron Johnson has also been injured since Dec. 23; he, too, has a bone bruise in his knee. And Jonas Valanciunas just returned after missing a month with a leg issue.

All the while, Peyton Watson and Jamal Murray have all dealt with various ailments, leaving Denver to piece together lineups night after night.

Despite the carnage, the Nuggets have posted a 9-6 record without Jokic, thanks largely to young players stepping up and the best regular-season stretch of Murray’s career.

The Nuggets remain tied in the loss column for second place with Houston and San Antonio, all trailing Oklahoma City. But again, their slim margin again shrinks without Gordon, and now there should be some real worry that he can stay healthy for two months of playoff hoops. He hasn’t played in 16 straight games since the 2023-24 season, and Denver will need to tally 16 wins to capture a second title.

At this point, it’s about surviving until the cavalry returns and hoping to establish some chemistry with the starting five in the dying days of the season. So far the Nuggets have been healthy for 15 games this year, going 12-3.

The shorthanded Nuggets are in the midst of a tough three-game homestand, hosting Brooklyn on Thursday.

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