When Jamal Murray left the court with the help of Jonas Valanciunas, Nuggets fans probably all thought the same thing. Not again. We've seen everyone else in the starting lineup get hurt, and now Mal? The Nuggets have been playing pretty up-and-down basketball, and losing Murray would be a catastrophe for a team that's been struggling to win close games.
But thankfully, that catastrophe was averted because Tim MacMahon has brought the news that Murray is only questionable, and he's day-to-day like pretty much everybody else who's walking around. So all things considered, the Nuggets emerged from this mini-crises mostly unscathed, minus the shellacking the Knicks put on them at home in a 39-point loss.
The Nuggets' All-Star guard will have his next chance to take the floor when the Nuggets travel to Oklahoma City to take on the Thunder in a rematch of the 127-121 overtime loss that saw a fiery moment occur.
The rematch is going to be a heck of a game
Nikola Jokic went after Lu Dort with the fire of a thousand thoroughbreds after Dort gave him a hip check like he was auditioning for a part in Happy Gilmore 3. It was something you'd see in a hockey game, and even Dort admitted it crossed the line, and the Joker called it after the game a "necessary reaction."
But the Nuggets don't care about Dort's apology. Deep down, they want revenge. That play could have taken Jokic out again, and many teams have been playing him a little dirty, adding to frustrations that clearly spilled over when Joker chased after Dort.
The Nuggets will be at nearly full strength if Murray suits up
The Nuggets didn't have their full roster when they last took on the Thunder. But they'll be as close as they can get if Murray suits up, as Peyton Watson would be the only Nugget expected to miss the game at the moment.
The Nuggets welcomed back Aaron Gordon following a 17-game absence caused by a second hamstring injury sustained this season. Gordon has been a game-changer for the Nuggets. They're 17-6 with a top-tier defensive rating with him, but only 22-19 with a bottom-tier defensive rating without Gordon.
It would be only the second game since mid-November the Nuggets have all five opening-night starters on the floor together. We'd all just like to see more than the five minutes of floor time together for the bunch than we saw in the last game against the Knicks. Otherwise, the chances of beating OKC only go down, unfortunately.