The Denver Nuggets made the right Aaron Gordon call and ruled the forward out of their matchup against the Spurs on Thursday. He was a game-time decision after he played 22 minutes in Wednesday's win over the Rockets.
Gordon has played only three games since returning from his second hamstring injury of the season. The last game he played before getting hurt was in the second half of a back-to-back against Milwaukee on Jan. 23, and the last thing the Nuggets needed was for a similar situation to play out in San Antonio.
It helps that Denver took care of business against Houston, moving up to the No. 5 spot in the West, half a game behind Los Angeles. The fight for playoff seeding isn't over, but the Nuggets at least created a little bit of breathing room. Even if they hadn't won, though, resting Gordon against the still would've been the right call.
As much as fans would like to see how a healthy starting lineup stacks up against the No. 2 team in the conference (even though Victor Wembanyama is out), it's far more important for Gordon to have Gordon in the postseason. Another hamstring injury would risk that.
Nuggets aren't playing Gordon in second half of back-to-back
In the game before AG got hurt in January, he played 33 minutes. A week before that, David Adelman got away with playing Gordon 30 minutes each in back-to-back games. In retrospect, that probably wasn't the best idea, as he had only been back in the lineup for a week.
He understandably hasn't reached the 30-minute mark yet, but although he played "only" 22 minutes on Wednesday, Denver didn't want to risk it. Gordon's hamstring issue history is enough of a concern as is, so why play with fire again, especially with the team's terrible injury luck this season?
The goal is to have everyone as close to 100 percent as possible in mid-April, in time for the start of the playoffs, and after a chaotic year, that is still within reach for the Nuggets. Adelman said last night that Peyton Watson, who is also out with a hamstring injury, should return within the week.
So, while it feels a little odd to celebrate seeing Gordon's name on the injury report listed as OUT, it makes sense when reflecting on the last year. Aaron Gordon is too important to the direction the Nuggets hope they're headed.