Rarely has any NBA team had to endure the kind of flood of key injuries that the Denver Nuggets are in the middle of dealing with right now.
When they tipped off the sixth game of a seven-game eastern road trip against the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday, the Nuggets were missing their entire starting five, plus their leading scorer off the bench (Tim Hardaway Jr.) and their only backup center (Jonas Valančiūnas.)
But this is sports…and somehow, some way…the skeleton crew the Nuggets rolled out on the floor defeated the 76ers 125-124 in overtime. Really.
Nuggets head coach David Adelman had nine healthy players available against the Sixers, and used all of them, including two-way player Curtis Jones. Zeke Nnaji, the subject of every trade rumor being thrown around, had a career high 21 points, backup point guard Jalen Pickett had 29 – including seven three pointers – and Peyton Watson had 24 and seven rebounds.
Denver’s four-man bench actually outscored the Sixers bench 41-33. And with a huge size advantage that included former MVP Joel Embiid, the Sixers were only able to outrebound the smaller visitors by four, 42-38.
This won’t be the way Adelman has to go for long. Hardaway was sick, and should be back soon. Starters Aaron Gordon and Christian Braun have returned from six week injury absences, but aren’t playing in back-to-back games yet. They should both be back on the floor Wednesday in Boston. Star guard Jamal Murray has been nursing a sprained ankle and missed his first game of the road trip in Philly. His availability moving forward is day-to-day.
The only remaining long term injuries remaining include Valančiūnas, forward Cam Johnson and three-time MVP Nikola Jokic. All three are not expected back until the end of January at the earliest. And while the win in Philly was a highlight, in order for the Nuggets to remain in contention for a top four seed in the rugged NBA Western Conference, a move or moves are going to have to be made to shore up the middle while Jokic and Valančiūnas on the sidelines.
There are ideas and suggestions coming from all corners of the basketball universe. Most include trade proposals that have the Nuggets parting with their 2031 first-round draft pick and backup forward Nnaji, who may have helped his trade value with his performance against the Sixers.
The Nuggets have more than one roster situation to work through in the coming weeks. Forward Spencer Jones, who has been in the starting lineup since Gordon was injured back on November 21st, is on a two-way contract. His NBA 50-game limit is approaching, so he will either have to be signed to a new contract or sent to the G-League sometime in early February.
For the moment, Gordon will likely slide over to the center spot when he’s on the floor with Nnaji and rookie DaRon Holmes serving as backups. And as they proved against the Sixers, when Denver has to go to small ball, they can hang in there for stretches as well.
At least for now. It’s very likely however, that a big roster move is coming soon.
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