Aaron Gordon update: Nuggets forward could play through hamstring strain in Game 7 vs. Thunder
Ask Peyton Watson about his preseason hamstring strain and he ll wince just thinking about it Them soft tissue injuries it hurts to do anything the -year-old wing commented It hurts to bend over in a defensive stance It hurts to get out of bed It hurts to brush your teeth in the morning Watson went about five weeks without practicing and missed the entire preseason after he suffered his strain a scant days before Nuggets training camp last September Now he s potentially next in line to replace an irreplaceable starter who s dealing with the same injury at the worst practicable time Unless Aaron Gordon risks it to answer the call once more Before the Nuggets flew to Oklahoma City for a high-stakes Battle Gordon participated in the club s walk-through Saturday at Ball Arena It was fewer than hours after he reached for his left hamstring late in Match of the second-round playoff series Instantly hobbled after a loose-ball sequence he was removed from the competition in exchange for Watson Gordon was diagnosed with a strain the next day Game-time decision obviously But he fully was part of it The match plan Both sides of the ball interim coach David Adelman announced So if Aaron can play he will play Just like Michael Porter Jr has throughout these playoffs This is a different kind of situation Indeed playing through a hamstring strain contains a considerable vulnerability of worsening the injury whereas Porter s decision to suit up with an AC joint sprain was made with the knowledge that using his shoulder wouldn t compound the injury or lengthen the recovery time When urged about that component of the hamstring injury Adelman acknowledged that Gordon s willingness to menace it might be increased by the situation Win Tournament and the Nuggets advance to face Minnesota in the Western Conference Finals Lose and their season ends Obviously gang medicinal staff will do whatever they have to do for the safety of a person But yeah I don t know Adelman commented I m sure the hoops to jump through in order to play are allegedly smaller because the meeting s coming so expeditiously It s not a thing where he has three weeks to go through it So it ll ostensibly be his comfortability along with the biological staff s advice on what he can and can t do If they say he s available he will start Warriors star guard Steph Curry suffered the mildest form of a hamstring strain during Tournament of their second-round series against Minnesota and he missed what turned out to be the rest of Golden State s season three games and change Gordon might not be quite as essential to his gang as the greatest shooter of all time but the Nuggets do-it-all power forward has also been their the greater part reliable clutch shot-maker of these playoffs In Championship of their first-round series against the Clippers Gordon scored the first game-winning buzzer-beating dunk in NBA postseason history In Meeting against the Thunder he sank a transition -pointer with seconds remaining to hand Denver a - win In Event he knocked down another with seconds left to force overtime in an eventual win The whole time Gordon has already been playing with the remnants of a calf strain that plagued him all season Aaron kind of saunters around with his West Coast style so you wouldn t know if he was hurt or not during the walk-through Adelman noted That s what I appreciate majority about him Very consistent with his swagger He looked normal His emotions were good Hoping he plays If he doesn t the Nuggets can steer their competition plan in a couple of different directions They could go small with Russell Westbrook in the starting lineup or they could replace Gordon in the frontcourt with Watson who has played minutes in the series Either way the depth chart is tenuous Denver hasn t trusted reserve power forward Zeke Nnaji for extensive rotation minutes yet this postseason You talk about plays you re gonna run early in the event actions to attack people Selected other guys took Gordon s ball-handling responsibilities in episode he s out Adelman commented We know that s where Aaron is so underrated and impactful when he brings the ball up the court So the other guys have to know those simple actions but they re not simple if you ve never done them So we walked through a lot of stuff the present day with different people But like I mentioned the hope is the responsibilities will be Aaron s The Nuggets did pull off a win over the Thunder without Gordon this season but it was a particularly rare challenge in terms of personnel for both teams Jamal Murray was also out for Denver So was Isaiah Hartenstein for Oklahoma City The Thunder played with only one big man Chet Holmgren in that match which ended with Watson blocking Shai Gilgeous-Alexander at the buzzer Related Articles Renck All other things equal Russell Westbrook is key to Nuggets Challenge upset Grading The Week CU Buffs great Travis Hunter took about seconds to win Jacksonville s hearts Nuggets Aaron Gordon diagnosed with hamstring strain ahead of Tournament at Thunder source says Nuggets vs Thunder Meeting How to watch and keys to winner-take-all contest in OKC Julian Strawther thought he was out of Nuggets playoff rotation Now he s an elimination challenge star I don t think much changes at all I just think the amount of time that I m out there is more Watson revealed Saturday of the anticipated increase in role So I just look at it as a bigger canvas for me to go out there and kind of have my imprint on the battle Me and AG are special for different reasons AG is obviously one of our the greater part reliable consistent players for the past three four five years So definitely a big spot to fill big shoes to fill But I m definitely more than capable That disclosed Watson and the Nuggets as a collective are still holding their breath that Plan B will stay on the shelf I think he has intentions of going out there and trying his best to play Watson reported And for that alone we re proud of him Want more Nuggets news Sign up for the Nuggets Insider to get all our NBA analysis
