David Adelman seemed more frustrated than usual after Sunday’s loss in Brooklyn, particularly disappointed with the Nuggets’ effort and energy. That frustration makes a bit more sense a day later, as we’ve learned that Denver will be resting Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon, Christian Braun, and Tim Hardaway Jr. for Monday night’s game in Philadelphia.
That’s on top of Nikola Jokic, Jonas Valanciunas, and Cam Johnson, who are all still out with injuries. The Nuggets are in the midst of a brutal road trip, and this back-to-back between Brooklyn on Sunday and Philadelphia on Monday has proven too much.
The healthy players have been carrying a ridiculous burden for over a month now. Murray and THJ played 40 and 34 minutes, respectively, in Sunday’s loss to the Nets, while Braun and Gordon were each making their return from injury absences longer than five weeks. The Nuggets need to win games, but they also need to avoid running guys into the ground.
But knowing that guys were going to get a rest day makes it that much more infuriating for them to come out flat and lay an egg the day before. They’ve compounded the issue and made it almost certain they’ll now lose both games without being competitive.
Opportunity for young Nuggets to step up
Despite this game being nationally televised on Peacock, the Nuggets can rest their players because technically, they don’t meet the league’s “star” criteria. None of these guys have made an All-Star game, All-NBA team, or All-Defense team, so they’re off the hook in terms of any punitive response from the league.
But it feels like they’re being punished plenty enough by the schedule and injuries. They’ve started this road trip off 1-4, they’ll now roll into Philly to face a hot Sixers team with a G-League caliber roster, and they’ll finish things off in Boston on Wednesday night against another team that’s on fire.
So, while it’s not particularly likely the Nuggets pull out a win on Monday night, it’s still an opportunity for players to get some reps and come out with better energy. The rotation will be made up of Peyton Watson, Jalen Pickett, Julian Strawther, DaRon Holmes, Bruce Brown, Spencer Jones, Zeke Nnaji, Hunter Tyson, and Curtis Jones.
That’s a skeleton crew if I’ve ever heard one, but these are proud NBA players who should have a chip on their shoulder. They’re being counted out before the game even starts, and after the frustrating showing yesterday, they have a good chance to go out and fight and curry some favor from the coaching staff.
There are no moral victories in this league, but hopefully, the Nuggets can go out and represent the franchise a little more admirably on Monday night against the 76ers, no matter who’s on the floor.