The Nuggets were the beneficiaries of some favorable scheduling this past week as they managed to have three consecutive days off between games. That’s something of a rarity during the grind of a regular season, but it’s much welcomed.
The team got to enjoy time off for Thanksgiving after winning in Utah on Wednesday night, 122-103. They entered a mini holiday break feeling pretty good, without having to take the floor again until Sunday.
Aaron Gordon returns to Nuggets lineup after missing 10 games
The Nuggets got some great news, seemingly out of nowhere as word came in Sunday morning that star forward Aaron Gordon had been upgraded from OUT to Doubtful. Gordon strained his calf early in the team’s November 4th game with the Raptors and has been out ever since.
Michael Malone recently gave a concerning update that Gordon was without a timetable for return, which led some to believe that Gordon may have suffered a setback. Calf strains - and calf injuries in general - can be very tricky and can easily linger or be reaggravated. It was clear that the Nuggets were being very cautious with their veteran forward, and for good reason.
So it was great news to find out, just a few days later, that Gordon was almost ready for action. As the day went on, things improved even more. In the afternoon he was upgraded again, from Doubtful to Questionable, and after going through warmups, he was deemed available to play.
Gordon didn’t start the game, but looked solid in 23 minutes off the bench, scoring 10 points on 4/7 shooting and more importantly, helping to fortify the backup center position. In years past, that has been a move that Malone has mostly saved for the playoffs, but things have gotten dire in the frontcourt whenever Nikola Jokic sits, and Gordon’s services are badly needed to fill that void.
Even if Gordon isn’t quite 100% and is playing out of position, he is a massive upgrade over the corpses of Dario Saric and DeAndre Jordan - which is what the Nuggets had been rolling with. They tried some small-ball with Peyton Watson and/or Michael Porter Jr. at center, but that works infinitely better with Aaron Gordon; his return is a very welcome sight for Nuggets fans.
Nuggets lose a tight one to Clippers
Unfortunately, his return was not enough to get the Nuggets into the win column. They dropped a tough one to the Clippers on the road on Sunday night, 126-122. The loss dropped Denver to 10-8 on the season, good for 9th in the loaded Western Conference.
But all in all, it was a great day for the Nuggets. The team is as healthy as they have been in a long time; now they need to get into a rhythm, build some consistency, and get back to their winning ways. They have plenty of season left to find a groove and get rolling.