The Nuggets are back in action on Friday night as they travel to Miami for a 2023 NBA Finals rematch against the Heat. Denver is coming off a home loss to the Rockets, but that was on the second night of a back-to-back without Nikola Jokic and Aaron Gordon.
Prior to that game, the team seemed to have found some kind of rhythm as they’d won four straight games, improved their record to 10 games over .500, and pulled within a game or two of the 2 seed in the Western Conference standings.
But just when it was starting to seem like the Nuggets were finally getting healthy, a bunch of new issues have arisen. Jokic injured his elbow during warmups on Wednesday night and was a last-minute scratch for the Rockets game.
Aaron Gordon has been back from a calf strain and playing well, but he is still not back to a full workload. And Jamal Murray is still dealing with a nagging knee injury that won’t seem to go away. Hopefully, these are all minor issues that won’t keep them off the floor for long, but it remains unclear.
Jokic and Gordon listed as questionable, Murray probable for Friday
Jokic was officially diagnosed with elbow inflammation and he is listed as questionable for the game on Friday night. The fact that he wasn’t ruled out is definitely a positive sign and indicates that even if he misses another game or two, it shouldn’t be a longterm issue.
A last-minute scratch for a player who wasn’t even on the injury report is never a good sign, but based on all the reports and interviews, it seems like Jokic and the Nuggets have dodged a bullet as he’s listed with just a right elbow sprain.
Gordon is also listed as questionable as he’s managing his recent calf injury and Murray is listed as probable with knee inflammation. So, despite three of the Nuggets’ top players appearing on the injury report, it doesn’t seem like anything serious and all three have a chance to suit up on Friday night.
For the Heat, this game marks the return of Jimmy Butler as he is due back from his 7-game suspension for conduct detrimental to the team. He is not listed on the Miami injury report.