Just one night after a hard-fought road victory in Washington, the Nuggets chose to rest Jamal Murray, Peyton Watson, and Jonas Valanciunas on the second night of the back-to-back in Milwaukee. Those absences, of course, were added to Nikola Jokic, Cam Johnson, and Christian Braun being out of the lineup.
That left Denver with quite the skeleton crew, as it seemed for the second time in January, during a brutal stretch of schedule, they essentially decided to punt on the game and get guys rest. But just like last time, the bench players stepped up in a big way, and the Nuggets got the win, 102-100.
It was a total team effort for the Nuggets, led by Julian Strawther, Tim Hardaway Jr., Bruce Brown, Jalen Pickett, and Zeke Nnaji, of all people. They were cruising for most of the night, opening up a big lead in the second quarter, going up by as many as 23 in the second half, and leading by 15 after three.
The Bucks looked uninspired for most of the night, and it’s clear to see why most of the talk around the team has been about whether or not Giannis Antetokounmpo will be traded or not. Still, they should have been able to put up a better effort as their furious fourth-quarter comeback fell short.
Strawther found a bit of a rhythm during the recent garbage time loss to the Hornets and carried that momentum into Friday, going for 20 points and 5 rebounds.
THJ has been slumping lately, but made a major impact with 17 points, including a thunderous, highlight-reel dunk. Bruce had 15 points, Pickett had 13 points and 7 assists, and Zeke had 11 points and 12 rebounds.
Nuggets lose Aaron Gordon to hamstring injury
But it wasn’t all good in this one. The one Nuggets starter who suited up was Aaron Gordon, who had been looking and feeling good since returning from a hamstring injury, and perhaps against better judgment, suited up for both legs of this road back-to-back.
Sure enough, just before the half, AG pulled up and limped off with his hammy acting up. He did not return to the game. Hopefully, this is just a tweak, and Gordon will be fine, but this is extremely concerning for a guy who has been plagued by soft tissue injuries in his legs for years now.
They’ve known that it’s going to be something they are going to have to manage, and it may linger for the rest of his career, which begs the question of why he was playing in the first place. But, there’s no sense in second-guessing.
Just as Denver is finally starting to get healthy, this would be a devastating blow if Gordon has to miss extended time yet again. This has been such a fun, positive season so far, and even despite the rash of injuries, the team has banded together to overcome in some unlikely ways. But at a certain point, it starts to feel like the deck is rigged.
We’ll wait for an update on Gordon, but for now, we can at least try to enjoy another win despite the odds.