The Nuggets have been plagued by injuries all season. They've had four starters miss a considerable amount of time, and even the bench has battled attrition. It's made the Nuggets extra cautious. The Nuggets caution looks absolutely genius now after watching the Lakers lose Luka Doncic for an unknown amount of time to a hamstring injury against the Thunder.
Doncic was clearly hurt already in the first quarter, but the Lakers checked him out per JJ Redick, and cleared Luka to go back into the game. Why? The Lakers were down 31 points to the defending champion Thunder to start the second half. Keep Luka, your MVP candidate, out for precaution.
The Nuggets have been exercising caution with their rotation going into the playoffs. They held out Tim Hardaway Jr. and Peyton Watson for precaution against the Utah Jazz after both experienced some tightness. Neither returned to the game, even though both were questionable.
Anyone getting tightness or showing something, they sit. Aaron Gordon sat out against the Golden State Warriors with calf tightness. No questions asked, get him some rest.
The Nuggets are preparing for the playoffs
The Nuggets are working on getting their health in order for the playoffs. They would have no reason to send any player back out in a blowout game. Especially their star.
Can you imagine Nikola Jokic returning to the court with the Nuggets down 31 while he's showing any sign of injury other than his wrist thing? Nuggets fans wouldn't let the coaching staff hear the end of it. I'm sure Lakers fans won't let Redick off the hook.
The Nuggets have held AG out of back-to-backs. They've been cautious with P-Wat's minutes and holding him out of the back-to-backs, too. And they're finally the healthiest, knock on wood, that they've been since the start of the season.
The Nuggets still probably can't pass the Lakers
The Nuggets are currently one game behind the Lakers for third in the Western Conference standings, but essentially two games back due to the Lakers' tiebreaker. The Nuggets have five games left, but two against the Spurs and one against the Thunder. Of course, they have the toughest remaining schedule with five games left. By a large margin.
The Lakers have a much easier schedule, coming in at 17th and only facing the Thunder once more and the Suns as their remaining playoff teams. It is not likely that the Lakers will lose the third seed, which makes the decision to send Luka out to start the second half against the Thunder even more baffling.
Nuggets fans may have been frustrated at times with the injuries and how they got handled, but the Nuggets look like geniuses for their caution now.