The Nuggets got some devastating news on Friday, finding out that Aaron Gordon has a hamstring strain and his status for Game 7 is in serious doubt. AG has been nursing a variety of leg injuries all season long, but this latest strain couldn’t come at a worse time.
Gordon has been having an outstanding playoffs thus far, leading the team on defense while being a huge contributor on the offensive end as well. There’s no way Denver can replace what he brings to the team, and David Adelman will be grasping at straws in the biggest game of the season if Gordon is unable to go.
Gordon “fully” participates in walk-through
But Adelman did offer a somewhat promising update on Saturday as he revealed that Gordon went through the team’s walk-through and stated, “He fully was part of it. The game plan. Both sides of the ball. So if Aaron can play, he will play."
He also added that Gordon is a game-time decision, which feels like an improvement over the initial doubtful status reported by Shams Charania of ESPN on Friday. There’s obviously a heightened risk of re-injury or tweaking something, but the fact that it’s one game, just two days after the strain, may be helpful for Gordon.
It will be a risky proposition either way, and if Gordon does give it a go, he may not be operating at (or anywhere near) 100%, but if there was ever a game to tough it out for, this is it. The Nuggets are already big underdogs on the road against a Thunder team that steamrolled through the regular season.
Nuggets’ rotation gets ugly without Gordon
In the doomsday scenario where Gordon isn’t able to play at all, that would make things incredibly difficult for an already shorthanded Nuggets team. The only bench player who has gotten consistent minutes is Russell Westbrook, but bumping him into the starting lineup would make for a very small unit.
That’s probably survivable if Michael Porter Jr. and Russ can hit the glass hard, but it would then mean heavy bench minutes for Peyton Watson and possibly either Zeke Nnaji or DeAndre Jordan. Those last two names are frightening for a game of this magnitude, but Denver is simply going to have to play another big man besides Jokic at some point.
Hopefully, Gordon is able to suit up and give his team a solid showing. Right now, all that matters is getting through this one game, and his presence would make that significantly more achievable. Even if it means he sits out to start the next series, that would obviously be a worthy price to pay for a win in Game 7.
But with under 24 hours until tip-off, this situation is clearly extremely volatile, and one that will go a long way in determining the outcome of one of the NBA’s biggest games in recent history.