Is Jamal Murray playing tonight? Who's in and out for Nuggets/Pelicans

UPDATE: As of 5:02 PM MT, Jamal Murray has officially been upgraded to "Available", per the Nuggets, and will play on Tuesday night against the Pelicans.

The Nuggets’ injury report has read like a chilling horror story for most of this season, and that remains to be the case on Tuesday as the team hits the road to take on the 9-31 New Orleans Pelicans in the Smoothie King Center, at 6 PM MT.

Nikola Jokic, Cam Johnson, and Jonas Valanciunas remain out, which comes as no surprise. At this point, it looks like we won't see any of those three until February, at the earliest. Christian Braun is also out after feeling discomfort in his ankle recently. CB missed almost two months with an ankle injury, recently revealing he suffered damage to his ligaments.

He didn’t look right upon returning, and after three games played, he will now miss a second straight game. It doesn’t sound like there was a specific setback for Braun as he showed up on Sunday with the intent of playing, but after talking with coaches and training staff, decided it was best not to risk it.

Aaron Gordon is probable, as he continues to work his way back from his hamstring issue, and Spencer Jones is also listed as probable, as it appears he’s over the illness that had him down recently.

The only real mystery left is Jamal Murray and whether he’ll play or not. The hopeful first-time All-Star has had a career year and has appeared in 35 of the Nuggets’ 39 games so far this year, but he has missed the last two outings with an ankle issue and an illness. Hours before tip-off, he is officially listed as questionable.

Murray shouldn’t play unless 100%

We’ve seen how ugly it can be to watch this team play without Jokic and Murray before, but if it’s going to happen, let’s make it a regular-season game. Everyone wants Murray to play, but his long-term health and his ability to be fresh and available once the playoffs start are paramount.

With all the injuries, the temptation is there to ride Jamal hard and try to win as many games as possible, but that urge must be resisted at all costs. Denver can’t run Murray into the ground, and if giving him some extra time off makes sense, this is as good a time as any to do it, against a struggling, young Pelicans squad that will be without Herb Jones, Jose Alvarado, and Dejounte Murray.

Plus, we’ve seen the Nuggets put forth some amazing efforts lately when shorthanded. If Jamal does sit out, this provides another great opportunity for some other players to step up, gain meaningful experience, and hopefully prove they can impact winning in the NBA.