Finally. The day has come. It has been months in the making, but for the first time since Nov. 7th, the Nuggets are whole again! Every player on the roster played that night in the 129-104 win against the Golden State Warriors, and every player will finally at least suit up for the once injury-riddled Nuggets when Peyton Watson joins his teammates on the court in his first appearance in six weeks against the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday.
What a welcome sight that notification from Shams was! Shams Charania came out of the clouds on Saturday afternoon with good news for the Nuggets and Nuggets fans alike.
Watson had been out of the lineup since Feb. 4th, when he suffered a grade 2 hamstring strain in the Nuggets' double overtime loss to the Knicks. P-Wat is the last player on the Nuggets to finally receive the "healthy" tag.
And his return to the lineup couldn't have come at a better time. The Nuggets are up-and-down like an elevator right now, and both Watson's offense and defense will be a welcome re-addition to the lineup.
Watson is having a career year
Peyton Watson is in the midst of a breakout season for the Nuggets. Watson is averaging career highs of 14.9 points and 4.9 rebounds while also playing a career-high 30.7 minutes per game.
And when Nikola Jokic went down with a knee injury in Miami, Watson stepped up even more. P-Wat averaged 21.5 points per game from December 31st until his February 4th injury, a span of 19 games.
P-Wat stepped up as a much-needed scoring option, and his volume production, three-point shooting, and strong rebounding brought back memories of Michael Porter Jr.
The Nuggets' problems began when Watson went out
I'm not saying Watson is the glue that held the Nuggets together, but their clutch issues did start right around the time Watson left the lineup after the Knicks game and snowballed from there.
The Nuggets are 5-7 in clutch games since Watson's injury, and 5-9 since Jokic returned.
In the 16 games without Jokic, but with Watson, the Nuggets were 8-2 in clutch games.
Something to ponder as the final stretch begins. The Nuggets have 11 regular-season games left to gel as a unit and find cohesion before the playoffs begin.
They have the 15th toughest remaining schedule from here, and they're only a half-game behind the Rockets for the fourth seed in the Western Conference. There's still plenty of time left, so keep the faith, Nuggets fans.