The Denver Nuggets were dealt a major blow ahead of their win-or-go-home Game 7 on the road against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference semifinals.
According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, starting forward Aaron Gordon will not be available to play.
“Denver’s Aaron Gordon has a Grade 2 hamstring strain and needs several weeks to recover from the injury, sources tell ESPN. The Nuggets’ playoff star has been searching for ways to play in today’s Game 7 against Oklahoma City, but it is becoming physically improbable to do so,” Charania wrote on X on Sunday.
Gordon sustained the injury in the fourth quarter of their 119-107 win in Game 6 that kept them alive in the series. He had five points, seven rebounds and seven assists in his final game for the Nuggets this season.
Nuggets’ Best Clutch Player
Gordon is averaging 14.5 points on 45.2% 3-point shooting, 9.2 rebounds and 3.8 assists against the Thunder in the series. The 6-foot-8 forward has been Denver’s best clutch player in this postseason run.
Gordon hit the game-winning 3-pointer in a crucial Denver win in Game 1, his second game-winning 3-pointer in this Nuggets’ postseason run.
He also had a game-winning dunk in Game 4 in the previous round against the Los Angeles Clippers.
Gordon also hit the game-tying 3-pointer in Game 3 against the Thunder that sent the game into overtime, where the Nuggets won to take a 2-1 series lead.
The Nuggets would’ve been on vacation earlier if not for Gordon’s playoff heroics. Now, they are staring at the prospect of going home early without their clutch forward.
Nuggets interim coach David Adelman told reporters that Gordon participated in their walkthrough, which showed the forward’s commitment and desire to play in Game 7.
“If Aaron can play, he will play,” Adelman told reporters in Denver.
But he can’t, putting the Nuggets’ playoff run in peril.
‘It Hurts to do Anything’
Getty Aaron Gordon of the Denver Nuggets is out for Game 7 with a Grade 2 hamstring strain.
Soft tissue injuries are tricky.
Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry missed the Warriors’ last four games in the second round with a Grade 1 hamstring strain. They lost all those games without him as the Warriors’ playoff hopes ended in flames.
Gordon’s backup, Peyton Watson, had it before the season, and he explained how painful it was.
“It’s tough,” Watson said of Gordon’s injury following their Game 6 win. “It’s super-taxing, because with that hamstring, soft tissue injuries, it hurts to do anything.
The 22-year-old Nuggets reserve shared that it hurt even when doing simple things such as getting out of bed and brushing your teeth in the morning. How much more when you’re doing intense physical movement on the court?
“It hurts to bend over in a defensive stance,” Watson added. “It’s just one of those things that nags you.”
Watson missed five weeks in the preseason with a hamstring injury.
Now, he has to step up in Gordon’s absence.
Watson scored four points and added three rebounds, one block and one steal in 14 minutes off the bench for the Nuggets in Game 6. But he only shot 1-of-7 from the field. He has to shoot better if he doesn’t want the season to end for him and the Nuggets on the road Sunday night.
Nuggets Star Aaron Gordon’s Game 7 Status Gets Crushing Update